The 1926–27 season was Manchester City F.C.'s thirty-sixth season of league football and first season back in the Football League Second Division since the 1909–10 season, and the first time they had been in the Second Division without achieving promotion since 1898.

1.
Manchester City F.C.
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Manchester City Football Club is a football club in Manchester, England. Founded in 1880 as St. Marks, they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887, the club moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline, having regained their Premier League status in the early 2000s, the club was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group and has become one of the wealthiest in the world. Since 2011 the club have won five major honours, including the Premier League in 2012 and 2014, by 2014–15, Manchester City had the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual revenue of €463.5 million. In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated they were the sixth most valuable football club. City gained their first honours by winning the Second Division in 1899, with it promotion to the highest level in English football. A fire at Hyde Road destroyed the main stand in 1920, in the 1930s, Manchester City reached two consecutive FA Cup finals, losing to Everton in 1933, before claiming the Cup by beating Portsmouth in 1934. The club won the First Division title for the first time in 1937, after relegation to the Second Division in 1963, the future looked bleak with a record low home attendance of 8,015 against Swindon Town in January 1965. In the summer of 1965, the management team of Joe Mercer, in the first season under Mercer, City won the Second Division title and made important signings in Mike Summerbee and Colin Bell. Further trophies followed, City won the FA Cup in 1969, before achieving European success by winning the European Cup Winners Cup in 1970, beating Górnik Zabrze 2–1 in Vienna. City also won the League Cup that season, becoming the second English team to win a European trophy, the club continued to challenge for honours throughout the 1970s, finishing one point behind the league champions on two occasions and reaching the final of the 1974 League Cup. Former United player Denis Law scored with a backheel to give City a 1–0 win at Old Trafford, the final trophy of the clubs most successful period was won in 1976, when Newcastle United were beaten 2–1 in the League Cup final. A long period of decline followed the success of the 1960s and 1970s, Malcolm Allison rejoined the club to become manager for the second time in 1979, but squandered large sums of money on unsuccessful signings, such as Steve Daley. A succession of managers then followed – seven in the 1980s alone, under John Bond, City reached the 1981 FA Cup final but lost in a replay to Tottenham Hotspur. The club were relegated from the top flight in the 1980s. However, this was only a respite, and following Reids departure Manchester Citys fortunes continued to fade. City were co-founders of the Premier League upon its creation in 1992, after two seasons in Division One, City fell to the lowest point in their history, becoming the second ever European trophy winners to be relegated to their countrys third league tier, after 1. After relegation, the club underwent off-the-field upheaval, with new chairman David Bernstein introducing greater fiscal discipline, under manager Joe Royle, City were promoted at the first attempt, achieved in dramatic fashion in a play-off against Gillingham

2.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses

3.
Tommy Johnson (footballer born 1900)
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Thomas Clark Fisher Tommy Johnson was an English football player who played as either a centre forward or an inside forward. He started his career at Manchester City in 1919. Known for his left foot shot, Johnson holds the record for the most goals scored by a Manchester City player in a single season. He played for Manchester City in the 1926 FA Cup Final, Johnson signed for Everton in 1930, acting as a foil for the prolific centre-forward Dixie Dean. In four seasons at Everton Johnson won the Second Division, the First Division, born in Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire, Johnson became an apprentice at the local shipyard. He made a debut in a war league match against Blackburn Rovers on 22 February 1919. League football returned in August 1919, but Johnson did not play for the first team until later in the season. He made his debut against Middlesbrough on 18 February 1920 scoring both goals in a 2–0 win, playing in the position previously occupied by Tommy Browell. He kept his place for a six matches, scoring one more goal. Over the next two seasons Johnson featured intermittently in the first team and he scored five goals in 12 appearances for the first team in 1920–21, playing more regularly for the reserves, for whom he was the leading goalscorer with 18 goals. He became a regular first team selection in 1922–23, playing 35 matches, in 1923 Manchester City moved from Hyde Road to a new stadium, Maine Road, in the Moss Side area of the city. Johnson scored in the first match at the new stadium, against Sheffield United, while Johnson was a regular goalscorer at this point in his career, he did not score as frequently as team-mates Frank Roberts and Horace Barnes. Firmly established in the first team, he missed one match in the 1924–25 season. In the 1925–26 season Johnson reached the 20 goal mark for the first time, though the team endured a difficult league season, some of their wins were high scoring, including a record 6–1 Manchester derby win in which Johnson made a goalscoring appearance. The FA Cup proved a fruitful competition for the club season, as they reached the final. Johnson played in every cup match, scoring his first competitive hat-trick in the quarter-final, however, Johnsons appearance at Wembley was not a happy one, his Manchester City team losing the final 1–0 to Bolton Wanderers. To compound the disappointment, City lost their league game and were relegated to the Second Division. Three weeks after the end of the season Johnson made his debut for England, Johnson played 5 times for England and scored five goals

4.
Nottingham Forest F.C.
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Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottinghamshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club, often referred to as Forest, have played matches at the City Ground since 1898. Founded in 1865, Forest were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, since then, they have mostly competed in the top two League tiers, bar five seasons in the third tier. Forest won the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959, Forest were founded in 1865 as Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club by a group of shinty players shortly after their neighbours Notts County, in 1862. They joined the Football Alliance in 1889, and won the competition in 1892, in their early years Forest were a multi-sports club, as well as their roots in bandy and shinty, the baseball club Forest deployed were British champions in 1899. Forests charitable approach to the sport helped teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, in 1886, Forest donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves – the North London team still wear red. Forest also donated shirts to Everton and helped secure a site to play on for Brighton, Forest claimed their first major honour when they won the 1898 FA Cup, beating Derby County 3–1 at Crystal Palace. However, for much of the first half of the 20th century the club spent life in the Second Division and had to seek re-election in 1914 after finishing bottom. In 1949 the club were relegated to the Third Division, but were promoted back two years later as champions having scored a record 110 goals in the 1950–51 season. They therefore became the first team to defeat the Wembley hoodoo, by this time Forest had replaced Notts County as the biggest club in Nottingham and went on to become runners-up in the First Division and FA Cup semi-finalists in 1967. However, after a successful period for the club, Forest were relegated from the First Division in 1972. Clough became the most successful manager in the history of Nottingham Forest, cloughs first game in charge was the third round FA Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, a 1–0 victory thanks to a goal by Scottish centre-forward Neil Martin. Nottingham Forest became one of the few teams to win the First Division Championship a year after winning promotion from the Second Division and they also won the European Super Cup and two League Cups. The club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983–84 but were knocked out by Anderlecht in controversial but uncertain circumstances. The case was dismissed and Anderlecht was acquitted from all charges Nottingham Forests next major trophies came in 1989 when they won the Football League Cup. Cloughs side retained the League Cup in 1990 when they beat Oldham Athletic 1–0, in Forests team that day was young Irish midfielder Roy Keane, who had joined the club the previous summer. In the summer of 1991, Brian Clough broke Forests transfer record fee by signing the top scorer, Millwall striker Teddy Sheringham

5.
Middlesbrough F.C.
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Middlesbrough Football Club is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since 1995 and they played at the Linthorpe Road ground from 1882 to 1903 and at Ayresome Park for 92 years, from 1903 to 1995. They were one of the members of the Premier League in 1992. The clubs main rivals are Sunderland and Newcastle United, there is also a rivalry with fellow Yorkshire club Leeds United. The clubs highest league finish to date was third in the 1913–14 season, the club came close to folding in 1986 after experiencing severe financial difficulties before it was saved by a consortium led by then board member and later chairman Steve Gibson. Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn Rovers in the 1996–97 Premier League season and they were promoted the following season and spent 11 seasons in the top division before being relegated again in 2009. Middlesbrough won the League Cup in 2004, the clubs first and they reached the 2006 UEFA Cup Final, but were beaten by Spanish side Sevilla. After seven years in the Championship, Middlesbrough secured promotion to the Premier League in 2016 after finishing in second place, the clubs traditional kit is red with white detailing. The various crests throughout the history, the most recent of which was adopted in 2007. They won the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and again in 1898, the club turned professional in 1889, but reverted to amateur status in 1892. They turned professional permanently in 1899, after three seasons, they won promotion to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 22 years. In 1903, the moved to Ayresome Park, their home for the next 92 years. In 1905, the club sanctioned the transfer of Alf Common for £1,000, over the next few years, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to sixth in 1907–08 before dropping to 17th two seasons later. The club rose to their highest league finish to date, third, World War I soon intervened and football was suspended. Before league football resumed, Middlesbrough won the Northern Victory League and they remained in the First Division for the next few seasons, but were relegated in 1923–24 after finishing bottom, ten points adrift of their nearest rivals. Three seasons later, they won the Division Two title, during that season, debutant George Camsell, who had signed from Third Division North side Durham City the previous season, finished with a record 59 league goals, which included nine hat-tricks. He would continue as top scorer for each of the ten seasons. Their tenure back in the top flight lasted one season

6.
Portsmouth F.C.
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Portsmouth Football Club /ˈpɔərtsməθ/ is a professional football club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which plays in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the formation in 1898. Portsmouth have been champions of England twice, in 1949 and 1950, in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, Portsmouth played European heavyweights A. C. Milan. In this period, the club had international footballers including England players Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, David James, financial problems, however, soon set in and Portsmouth were relegated to the Football League Championship in 2010. In 2012, they were relegated, to League One. They began the 2013–14 season in the tier of the English football league system for the first time since the late 1970s. Portsmouth became the largest fan-owned football club in England, after the Pompey Supporters Trust successfully gained possession of Fratton Park in April 2013, Portsmouth Football Club are nicknamed Pompey, a name which it shares with the city of Portsmouth and its historic naval base. Pompey is thought most likely to originate from the abbreviation of Portsmouth Point to the shorter Pom. The club was founded in 1898 with John Brickwood — owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery — as chairman, a blue plaque on the wall of 12 High Street Portsmouth commemorates the founding on 5 April. That first season was successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, 1910–11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager, the team was promoted the following season. League football was suspended during First World War, but following the resumption of matches Portsmouth won the Southern League for the second time, continuing success saw them in the Third Division for the 1920–21 season. They finished 12th that year, but won the division in the 1923–24 season, the club continued to perform well in the Second Division, winning promotion by finishing second in the 1926–27 season, gaining a record 9–1 win over Notts County along the way. Portsmouths debut season in the First Division was a struggle, the next season they continued to falter, losing 10–0 to Leicester City, still a club record defeat. Despite their failings in the league, however, that also saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final for the first time. Portsmouth managed to survive relegation, and their fortunes began to change, the 1933–34 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final, beating Manchester United, Bolton, Leicester and Birmingham City on the way. The club was defeated in the final, this time to Manchester City. Having established themselves in the top flight, the 1938–39 season saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final and this time, Portsmouth managed to convincingly defeat favourites Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1. Bert Barlow and Jock Anderson scored, whilst Cliff Parker scored twice to complete a famous victory, League football resumed for the 1946–47 campaign after five years and Portsmouth continued in the First Division

7.
Chelsea F.C.
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Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The clubs greatest period of success has come during the last two decades, winning 21 trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, Chelseas regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The clubs crest has changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club. The current crest, featuring a lion rampant regardant holding a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club have the sixth-highest average all-time attendance in English football and their average home gate for the 2015–16 season was 41,500, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in 2016, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion. In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground, an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club won promotion to the First Division in their second season and they reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the clubs best league campaign to that point. Chelsea attracted large crowds and had a reputation for signing big-name players, former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty, Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the clubs youth set-up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up, under Dochertys successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the year, with another replayed win

8.
Fulham F.C.
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Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, Greater London, England. Founded in 1879, they play in the Championship, the tier of English football. They are the football team from London to have played in the Premier League. The club has spent 25 seasons in English footballs top division, the latter spell was associated with former chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the club had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s. The club has produced many English greats, including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and they play at Craven Cottage, a ground on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham which has been their home since 1896. Fulhams training ground is located near Motspur Park, where the clubs Academy is also situated, Fulham were formed in 1879 as Fulham St Andrews Church Sunday School F. C. founded by worshipers at the Church of England on Star Road, West Kensington. Fulhams mother church still today with a plaque commemorating the teams foundation. They won the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and, having shortened the name from Fulham Excelsior to its present form in 1888, one of the clubs first ever kits was half red, half white shirts with white shorts worn in the 1886–87 season. Fulham started playing at their current ground at Craven Cottage in 1896, the club gained professional status on 12 December 1898, the same year that they were admitted into the Southern Leagues Second Division. They were the club from London to turn professional, following Arsenal. They adopted a red and white kit during the 1900–01 season, in 1902–03, the club won promotion from this division, entering the Southern League First Division. The club won the Southern League twice, in 1905–06 and 1906–07, Fulham joined The Football League after the second of their Southern League triumphs. The clubs first league game, playing in the Second Divisions 1907–08 season, the first win came a few days later at Derby Countys Baseball Ground by a score line of 1–0. Fulham finished the three points short of promotion in fourth place. The club progressed all the way to the semi-final of that seasons FA Cup, in the semi-final, however, they were heavily beaten, 6–0, by Newcastle United. This is still a loss for an FA Cup semi-final game. Two years later, the won the London Challenge Cup in the 1909–10 season. Fulhams first season in Division Two turned out to be the highest that the club would finish for 21 years, until in 1927–28 when the club were relegated to the 3rd Division South, created in 1920

9.
Maine Road
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Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F. C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, Charity Shield matches, a League Cup final and England matches and, because of its high capacity, gained the nickname Wembley of the North. The following season Manchester City moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in East Manchester, two sites in Belle Vue, East Manchester were suggested, but neither was deemed sufficient. To many City fans east Manchester was regarded as Citys home, but the site was just 8 acres and an available lease of 50 years was deemed too short by the club, so it was decided that City would move to Moss Side. The move to a stadium at Maine Road was backed by then manager Ernest Mangnall. Many were disappointed when a site in south Manchester was chosen, a City director, John Ayrton, resigned from the Board later in the decade and helped to form a breakaway club, Manchester Central F. C. which played at Belle Vue. A sixteen and a quarter acre former brickworks on Maine Road was purchased for £5,500, during construction, the stadium was reputedly cursed by a gypsy when officials evicted a gypsy camp from the area. This curse was allegedly removed on 28 December 1998, however, the gypsy curse is likely to be an urban myth, as such stories are endemic to a number of football league grounds. Construction took 300 days, the total cost £100,000, the initial layout of the ground consisted of one covered stand with a seating capacity of 10,000, and uncovered terracing on the other three sides, with gentle curves connecting the corners. The first match at Maine Road took place on 25 August 1923 when 58,159 fans watched the home side beat Sheffield United 2–1. The first changes to the ground took place in 1931, when the corner between the Main Stand and the Platt Lane end at the south of the ground was rebuilt to incorporate a roof. This renovation was the first of many, as Maine Roads layout, in 1934, the second highest attendance at an English football game at a club ground was recorded at Maine Road. The first was the 1913 FA Cup Final, hosted by Crystal Palace with a crowd of 121,919, the Maine Road match was between Manchester City and Stoke City in front of 84,569 fans in the 6th round of the FA Cup on 3 March 1934. Queues formed four hours before the match, and one journalist stated that Maine Road was packed two hours before kick-off, a decision was taken to close the turnstiles with an attendance at approximately 85,000,3000 short of what was thought to be the maximum capacity. Supporters witnessed a visiting Stoke team which included Stanley Matthews and Citys team boasted players, Frank Swift, Fred Tilson, Sam Cowan, the match was won 1–0 by Manchester City. This is the home attendance for a domestic match and the record home attendance at a club ground. Changes at the Platt Lane end took place in 1935, extending the terracing and providing a roof for the full stand and this marked the peak capacity of the ground, estimated at around 88,000. Further changes were planned, but suspended when Manchester City were relegated from Division One in 1938, the stadium was shared by Manchester United after the Second World War as Manchester Uniteds Old Trafford ground had been damaged during the Manchester Blitz

10.
Grimsby Town F.C.
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Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the tier of league football in England. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town, the club is located at Blundell Park where it has been since 1898. They are the most successful of the three professional clubs in historic Lincolnshire, being the only one to play top-flight football. It is also the club of the three to reach an FA Cup semi-final. It has also spent more time in the English games first, in 2008 Buckley took Grimsby to the capital again, but lost out to MK Dons in the final of the Football League Trophy. Grimsbys 1939 FA Cup semi-final attendance of 76,962 versus Wolverhampton Wanderers is still a record at Manchester Uniteds Old Trafford stadium, in 1954 they became the first English club to appoint a foreign manager, Hungarian Elemér Berkessy. The clubs record holder is John McDermott, who made 754 appearances between 1987 and 2007, while their leading scorer is Pat Glover, with 180 goals. Grimsby Town F. C. was formed in 1878 after a meeting held at the Wellington Arms public house in Freeman Street, Grimsby. Several attendees included members of the local Worsley Cricket Club who wanted to form a club to occupy the empty winter evenings after the cricket season had finished. The club was originally called Grimsby Pelham, this being the name of the Earl of Yarborough. In 1880 the club purchased land at Clee Park which was to become their ground until 1889 when they relocated to Abbey Park, before moving again in 1899 to their present home, Blundell Park. The original colours were blue and white hoops, which were changed to chocolate, in 1888 the club first played league football, joining the newly formed Combination. The league soon collapsed and the year the club applied to join the Football League. Instead the club joined the Football Alliance, in 1890 the club became a limited company and in 1892 finally entered the Football League, when it was expanded to two divisions. The first game was a 2–1 victory over Northwich Victoria, however they finished as champions at the first attempt and at the subsequent re-election vote, replaced local rivals Lincoln City in the Football League. This was the most successful period in the clubs history, by 1929 they were back in Division One, where they stayed until 1939, obtaining their highest-ever league position, 5th in Division One, in the 1934–35 season. In 1925 they adopted the black and white stripes as their colours, Three Grimsby Town players, forward Jackie Bestall, goalkeeper George Tweedy and defender Harry Betmead each received a solitary England cap during the period 1935–1937

11.
Blundell Park
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Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains, the current capacity of the ground is 9,052, after being made all-seater in summer 1995, reducing the number from around 27,000. Several relegations in previous years meant the seating was also taken away. The stadium is Grimsby Towns fourth ground, having played at Clee Park, Lovett Street. The record attendance at Blundell Park was 31,651 in an FA Cup tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 20 February 1937. The two clubs hold the record attendance at Manchester Uniteds Old Trafford stadium when 76,962 people saw the two sides meet again in the 1939 FA Cup semi-final. The opening match was a Football League Second Division fixture against Luton Town on 2 September 1899, in 1901 a new Main Stand was built on the northern side of the ground. In 1925 the Abbey Park Stand was demolished and in its place was built the Barretts Stand, in 1937 the clubs record attendance of 31,651 was recorded when the club met Wolverhampton Wanderers in an FA Cup tie on 20 February 1937. In 1939 around the time of the break-out of the Second World War the Hazel Grove Stand, in 1953 the club introduced its first floodlights to the ground and with that enabling Grimsby Town to play night-time fixtures. In 1961, the 63-year-old Pontoon Stand was demolished and replaced with a new stand of the same name, following the Taylor Report which documented the Hillsborough disaster, Blundell Park was made an all seater stadium in 1995. The club in 1995 also introduced temporary seating in the partings between the Pontoon and Main Stands and the Osmond and Findus stands. The clubs largest attendance since being made an all seater stadium was 9,528 on 3 March 1999 against Sunderland in a Football League Division One tie and this was extremely unpopular with club supporters and reversed. Youngs Stand is the third to be built on the side of the ground to the tunnel. Originally the club had moved the Abbey Park Stand from their previous ground the Abbey Park Stadium, the Barretts itself was eventually demolished in 1980 and was replaced with a two tier stand paid for by the fish processing firm Findus. The stand therefore was named the Findus Stand, the lower tiers front rows are uncovered and between the two tiers are a row of corporate boxes. Housed within the stand is the boardroom, ticket office, club shop, bars, in 1990s Findus ceased production in the town, so the stand went through several other sponsored names. Firstly the stand was renamed the Stones Bitter stand before later becoming the John Smiths stand in 1997, Findus returned to the Town in 2009 and the stand then reverted to its original name. For the 2016–17 season, a new deal with Youngs Seafood was announced with the tiers being renamed to the Upper Youngs

12.
Oldham Athletic F.C.
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Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The team compete in League One, the tier of English football. The history of Oldham Athletic A. F. C. begins with the founding of Pine Villa F. C. in 1895, playing in the Manchester and Lancashire leagues. When rivals Oldham County F. C. folded in 1899, Pine Villa F. C. moved into their stadium and they were Football League runners-up in the 1914–15 season but were relegated from the Football League First Division in 1923. They reached the 1990 Football League Cup Final and won the Football League Second Division title in 1991 and they secured their top division status a year later to become founder members of the new Premier League but were relegated in 1994. After a period of insolvency in 2003–04, the club was taken over by a group of US-based expatriate British businessmen led by Simon Blitz, Pine Villa Football Club was formed in 1895, though the club changed its appearance and name in 1899 to Oldham Athletic Football Club. The club immediately gained professional status and played in both the Lancashire Combination and Lancashire League, unlike many clubs, Oldham Athletic gained quick success and gained acceptance into the Football League in 1907–08. After three years in the Second Division, Latics gained promotion to the First Division, within a couple of seasons, Oldham had announced themselves serious contenders, finishing 4th in the league in 1912–13, and reaching the F. A. Cup semi-finals the same season, losing out 1–0 versus Aston Villa, in 1914–15, Latics reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup but were knocked out once again after a 0–3 replay against Sheffield United. In the league season they almost won it all, Latics lost the league by one point. Latics early success was halted by the First World War. Many of the players from their former squads had either retired from football or had killed in the war. Their highest success came in the 1929–30 season as finished in 3rd. From then on they slowly but surely fell down the league table and they found life in this new division much more to their liking, coming 7th in their first season and following this with three seasons in the top five. Promotion back to the Second Division looked like it might just be a possibility, players contracts were terminated, and relying largely on guest players, the club was to play in the war-time Northern League until August 1946. Following the return of football there was to be no immediate success for Oldham Athletic. They finished 19th in the first league season after the war, Hardwicks appointment came at a cost, with a £15,000 transfer fee paid to Middlesbrough. In Hardwicks first full season in charge they finished 4th after topping the table for a considerable time, eric Gemmell scored seven of these to establish an individual club record for one game which still stands to date

13.
Boundary Park
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Boundary Park, known as SportsDirect. com Park for sponsorship purposes, is a sports stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It lies at the extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Boundary Park was originally known as the Athletic Ground when it was opened in 1896 for Oldhams first professional football club, when County folded in 1899, Pine Villa F. C. took over the ground and changed their name to Oldham Athletic. Oldham Athletic A. F. C. have played their games here since the stadium was opened. The Lookers Stand on the Broadway side was knocked down as part of a proposed redevelopment, Oldham Borough Council confirmed planning approval for the new North Stand in April 2013. This will have capacity for 2,671 spectators, plus a health and fitness suite, supporters bar, the hardcore Oldham fans are usually considered to be in the Chadderton Road End, a traditional, small, one-tiered stand. In these cases, season ticket holders have to be reallocated, the main stand has existed since the time when the stadium was originally built, and is a small two-tiered structure. Terracing disused since the conversion to an all-seater can still be seen towards the end of this stand, the stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 13,500. It became a venue during the 1994–95 season - the season after Oldham Athletics relegation from the top flight of English football. In the early days, the stadium could hold nearly 50,000 people, the highest crowd ever recorded at Boundary Park is 47,671, for an FA Cup tie between Oldham and Sheffield Wednesday in 1930. The highest attendance for a match was also recorded during the same season against Blackpool. In 1986 the club installed an artificial pitch in order to more income for the club. Critics felt that the pitch gave the club an advantage, when the Portsmouth manager declared that Oldham couldnt play away from home, Royle stuck the article to the dressing room door and the team responded with a 4–1 victory. After 60 minutes of the game, Sheffield Wednesday were 2–0 up, by this point, West Ham were losing. In time added on, Andy Barlow went down in the box, neil Redfearn stepped up to convert it and a mass pitch invasion followed, as it had been confirmed that West Ham had lost 2–1 at home to Notts County. In gaining promotion to the top flight, Oldham Athletic were forced to have the plastic pitch removed because of league rules and they stayed in the top division for three seasons before being relegated, and after three disappointing seasons in the second tier were relegated again in 1997. They have been in the division, now called League One. Boundary Park is anecdotally known as being the coldest ground in the Football League, earning the nickname coined by Joe Royle, there were plans in the late 1990s for a move to a new 20,000 seater stadium on adjoining waste ground, but these were scrapped

14.
Blackpool F.C.
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Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. For the 2016–17 season, they are competing in League Two, founded in 1887, Blackpools home ground has been Bloomfield Road since 1901. Their main nickname is the Seasiders, but they are called the Pool and the Tangerines, the latter in reference to the colour of their home kit. Blackpools least successful period was in the 1980s, particularly when, in the 1982–83 season, they finished 21st in English League footballs lowest tier, the clubs motto is Progress, as featured on the club crest. Blackpool have a rivalry with Preston North End, and matches between the two clubs are known as the West Lancashire derby. They have not met in a match since February 2010. Football had developed in Blackpool by 1877 when Victoria F. C. were founded as a club with a ground in Caunce Street. This team disbanded a few years later but some of its members are understood to have merged with old boys from St Johns School to form a new club called Blackpool St Johns. The new club managed to win two pieces of silverware in its first season in existence, 1887–88, the Fylde Cup, at the conclusion of the following 1888–89 season, Blackpool became founder members of the Lancashire League. In their first season in the competition, the club finished out of the 13 member clubs. They finished as runners-up over the three seasons, before winning the championship themselves on their fourth attempt. Blackpools home at that point in time was Raikes Hall, which was part of an entertainment complex that included a theatre. This meant that the average attendances were around the 2000 mark. Their application was successful, and for the debut season, 1896–97. Blackpools first-ever Football League game took place on 5 September 1896, at Lincoln City, for the 1897–98 campaign, the club played their home games at the Athletic Grounds. They remained there for the first seven games of 1898–99. After finishing third-bottom, the club were not re-elected at the end of the 1898–99 season and they finished third, and after the Football Leagues annual meeting, on 25 May 1900, were permitted back into Division Two. It was during this season out of the League that Blackpool amalgamated with local rivals South Shore, during the 10 seasons that followed, Blackpool could finish no higher than 12th place

15.
Reading F.C.
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Reading Football Club is a professional association football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club played at Elm Park for 102 years between 1896 and 1998, in 1998 the club moved to the new Madejski Stadium, which is named after the clubs co-chairman Sir John Madejski. Reading then finished eighth in the 2006–07 Premier League, their first ever season as a top flight club, Reading were formed on 25 December 1871, following a public meeting at the Bridge Street Rooms organised by the future club secretary Joseph Edward Sydenham. The early matches were played at Reading Recreation Ground, and later the club held fixtures at Reading Cricket Ground, Coley Park and Caversham Cricket Ground. The switch to professionalism in 1895 resulted in the need for a ground and, to this end. In 1913, Reading had a tour of Italy, prompting the leading sports newspaper Corriere della Sera to write without doubt. Reading were elected to the Football League Third Division South of the Football League in 1920, Reading lost their place in Division Two in May 1931, and remained in Third Division South until the outbreak of World War II. When League football resumed after the war, Reading quickly came to prominence once again, the sides moment of cup glory came in 1988 when they won the Simod Cup, beating a number of top flight sides en route to their Wembley win over Luton Town. Reading were promoted to the Second Division as champions in 1986 under the management of Ian Branfoot, the appointment of Mark McGhee as player-manager, shortly after the takeover by John Madejski, in 1991 saw Reading move forward. They were crowned champions of the new Division Two in 1994, in 1995, Reading had eased past Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals and looked to have booked their place in the Premier League only to lose against Bolton Wanderers in the final. Quinn and Goodings contracts were not renewed two years later after Reading had slid into the half of Division One. Their successor, Terry Bullivant, lasted less than one season before being sacked in March 1998, the year 1998 also saw Reading move into the new 24,200 all-seater Madejski Stadium, named after Chairman John Madejski. Tommy Burns had taken over from Terry Bullivant but lasted just 18 months before being replaced by Alan Pardew, the club finished third in 2000–01 qualifying for the play-offs, losing 2–3 in the final against Walsall at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Reading returned to Division One for 2002–03 after finishing runners-up in Division Two, the following season, they finished fourth in Division One and qualified for the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-final to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Alan Pardew moved to West Ham United the following October and was replaced by Steve Coppell, Reading won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, scoring 99 goals and losing only twice. Reading were promoted to English footballs top division for the first time in their history, the 2006–07 season saw Reading make their first appearance in the top flight of English football. Reading defied pre-season predictions of relegation to finish the season in place with 55 points

16.
Elm Park (stadium)
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Elm Park was a football stadium in the West Reading district of Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium was the home of Reading Football Club from 1896 to 1998, in 1998 they moved to the new Madejski Stadium. In 1889, Reading were unable to continue playing at Coley Park as W B Monck no longer allowed due to rowdyism the rougher elements. With club membership exceeding 300 by the time the club went professional in 1895, a meeting the following year determined that funding would be difficult. £20 was donated by J C Fidler, on the proviso that no liquors were to be sold on site, the rest of the cost was financed through donations by wealthy supporters, as well as one large individual donation. A former gravel pit in West Reading was identified as the site, the first game at Elm Park was held on 5 September 1896 between Reading and A Roston Bourkes XI. The visitors were a team from Holloway College and thus not registered with the Football Association. Reading were later fined £5 and suspended for playing against an unregistered team, the away team was named after Arthur Roston Bourke, honorary secretary of the Referees Association. The match was abandoned due to weather, Reading were leading 7–1 when the match ended. £44 was taken on the gate, with an attendance of approximately 2,500, in 1908, the clubs annual general meeting proposed moving to a new ground near Reading railway station. As a result of Readings relegation to Division Four after the 1982–83 season, the teams merger and closure of the stadium was subsequently averted, and the following season saw Readings promotion back to Division Three under the guidance of Ian Branfoot. In 1994, the Taylor Report made all-seater stadiums compulsory in the top two divisions, Reading were champions of the second division in 1994, and were promoted to the first division. Reading became subject to the Taylor requirements, though converting Elm Park to a stadium would have been impractical. Instead, a location in Smallmead was identified as the site for a new stadium, the former council landfill site was bought for £1, with further conditions that the development of the stadium would include part-funding of the A33 relief road. Expansion of the home would also allow alternative commercial ventures. The last competitive match at Elm Park took place on 3 May 1998 against Norwich City, Reading began the 1998–99 season at the Madejski Stadium. Elm Park featured four stands, North South West East The north and south stands were covered, the east stand was reserved for away supporters, as was a small section of the north stand. In 1920, the seats in the stand were upholstered

17.
Swansea City A.F.C.
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Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales, that plays in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Swansea City represent England when playing in European competitions, although they have represented Wales in the past, the club was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swanseas new status as a city. Swansea have played their matches at the Liberty Stadium since 2005. In 1981, the club was promoted to the original Football League First Division and it was during the following season they came close to winning the league title, but a decline then set near the seasons end before finishing sixth, although a club record. The clubs subsequent climb from the division of English football to the top division is chronicled in the 2014 film. In 2011, Swansea were promoted to the Premier League, following the lead of many other South Wales sides, joined the second division of the Southern League for the following season. J. W. Thorpe was the clubs first chairman, a site owned by Swansea Gaslight Co. called Vetch Field due to the vegetables that grew there, was rented to be the clubs ground. The clubs first professional match was a 1–1 draw at the Vetch Field against Cardiff City on 7 September 1912. During that first season the Welsh Cup was won for the first time, before the game Bradshaw had scored with thirty-six consecutive spot kicks. Remarkably, the Swans played most of the half with ten men. The Swans drew at another First Division side, Newcastle United, in the next round, following the First World War the Southern League dropped its second division, and with many clubs dropping out due to financial difficulties, the Swans were placed in the first division. After just four seasons in the Southern League, Swansea Town became founder members of the new Third Division of The Football League in 1920, the side had remained unbeaten at home in the league all season – something the next promotion team would emulate over twenty years later. Sadly for the Swans, an experienced Bolton side won the game 3–0, Swans record their highest average attendance during the season of 16,118 for pre-war league games. During the 1926–27 season they beat Real Madrid 3–0 on tour, during the 1931–32 season they finished 1st and went out in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. However they won the Welsh Cup after beating Wrexham 2–0 away after a replay and it was not until the 1933–34 season that Wilfred Milne scored his first goal for Swansea at Lincoln City after 501 appearances without a goal. After just one back from wartime football, the Swans finished 21st in the Second Division. The following season was one of consolidation, however in 1948–1949 the Swans stormed their way to winning the division for the second time

18.
City Ground
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The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and they are located on opposite sides of the River Trent. Nottingham Forest moved to their new ground on 3 September 1898 –33 years after their formation, to raise the £3,000 required to finance the move the club asked members, supporters and businessmen to subscribe to New Ground Scheme bearer bonds which cost £5 each. Over £2,000 was raised this way, the new ground was called the City Ground. It was only a few hundred yards from the old Town Ground at the end of Trent Bridge. Nottingham was granted its Charter as a City in 1897 and it was called the City Ground to commemorate this as the land on which it stands was at that time within the City boundary. In 1952 boundary changes resulted in the ground coming under the council of West Bridgford rather than the City. Opposite the City Ground, still within the City boundaries, lies Meadow Lane, the City Ground was wide open on three sides with no protection from the weather but the pitch was one of the finest in the country. This was due to the presence on the committee of J. W. Bardill, in 1935, the club had the opportunity to buy the ground from Nottingham Corporation for £7,000 but they declined. On 12 October 1957, a new East Stand opened at the City Ground costing £40,000, the visitors for the opening were Manchester United’s Busby Babes, just four months before eight of them died in the Munich air disaster. A new record attendance of 49,946 was set in October 1967 when Forest beat Manchester Utd 3-1 in a First Division fixture, on 11 September 1961, the floodlights at the ground were officially turned on for the first time as Forest faced Gillingham in the League Cup. The Main Stand was largely rebuilt in 1965 but on 24 August 1968 fire broke out during a First Division game against Leeds United, the stand was damaged by fire but thankfully, despite a crowd of 31,126, there were no injuries among the crowd. The fire started in the room, just before half-time. As a result, Forest played six matches at nearby Meadow Lane. Sadly many of the records, trophies, memorabilia etc. were lost in the fire. In December 1967 the City Ground was host to an England U23 match against Italy, Forest also won the Football League Cup twice during this era. The stand was renamed The Brian Clough Stand after Cloughs retirement, the stand also incorporates 36 executive boxes and a large dining area which was designed to be the focus of the club’s corporate hospitality arrangements. More major development took part in 1992–93 with the rebuilding of the Bridgford Stand, work started in April 1992 and when completed the Stand had a capacity of 7,710, the lower tier of 5,131 being allocated to away supporters

19.
Barnsley F.C.
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Barnsley Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy under the name Barnsley St. Peters, the club colours are red and white, and their home ground since 1888 has been Oakwell. Taylor broke into the Barnsley team just after the sale of wing-half Danny Blanchflower to Aston Villa. Blanchflower would go on to sign for Tottenham Hotspur and be voted FWA Player of the Year twice as well as captaining the North London club to the first league and cup double of the 20th century. Barnsley FC was established in 1887 by a clergyman, Tiverton Preedy and they joined the Football League in 1898, and struggled in the Second Division for the first decade, due in part to ongoing financial difficulties. In 1910 the club reached the FA Cup final, where they lost out to Newcastle United in a replay match. However, they would reach the 1912 FA Cup Final where they would defeat West Bromwich Albion 1–0 in a replay to win the trophy for the first. When the league restarted after World War I, the 1919–20 season brought significant changes to the league. The principal difference was that the First Division would be increased from 20 teams to 22, the bottom team from the previous season was Tottenham Hotspur and they were duly relegated. The first extra place in the First Division went to Chelsea, derby County and Preston North End were rightly promoted from the Second Division which left one place to be filled. Henry Norris, the then Arsenal chairman, had recently moved Woolwich Arsenal north of the River Thames to Highbury and he was later to admit some underhand dealings, allegedly including the bribing of some member clubs to vote for Arsenals inclusion. They duly won the vote and Barnsley were consigned to the tier of English football for another 8 decades. The club did come close to reaching the top division in the early years. In 1922, they missed out on promotion by a single goal, during the years preceding and following World War II, the club found themselves sliding between the Second and Third Division. Around the time of Blanchflowers departure, a young centre-forward called Tommy Taylor broke into the Barnsley team, scoring 26 goals in 44 games for Barnsley. In April 1953, he one of the most expensive players in English football at the time when Matt Busby signed him for Manchester United for a fee of £29,999. In 1965, Barnsley were relegated to the Football League Fourth Division for the first time and they went down to the Fourth Division again in 1972, and this time stayed down for seven seasons, finally returning to the Third Division in 1979

20.
Southampton F.C.
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Their home ground since 2001 has been St Marys Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. Southampton has a rivalry with Portsmouth due to its close proximity. Matches between the two sides are known as the South Coast derby, the club has won the FA Cup once, in 1976, and their highest-ever league finish was second in the First Division in 1983–84. Southampton were relegated from the Premier League on 15 May 2005 and they returned after a seven-year absence, and have played there ever since. Southampton were founded at St. Marys Church, on 21 November 1885 by members of the St. Marys Church of England Young Mens Association. More important matches, such as cup games, were played either at the County Cricket Ground in Northlands Road or the Antelope Cricket Ground in St Marys Road. During this time, they moved to a newly built £10,000 stadium called The Dell, the club reached the first of their four FA Cup Finals in 1900. On that day, they went down 4–0 to Bury and two later they would suffer a similar fate at the hands of Sheffield United as they were beaten 2–1 in a replay of the 1902 final. After World War I, Saints joined the newly formed Football League Third Division in 1920 which split into South and North sections a year later, the 1921–22 season ended in triumph with promotion and marked the beginning of a 31-year stay in the Second Division. The 1922–23 season was a unique Even Season –14 wins,14 draws and 14 defeats for a total of 42 points, goals for and against statistics were also equal and the team finished in mid-table. In 1925 and 1927, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing 2–0 and 2–1 to Sheffield United, in the 1948–49 and 1949–50 seasons, Charlie Wayman rattled in a total of 56 goals. Then relegation in 1953 sent Saints sliding back into Division 3 and it took until 1960 for Saints to regain Second Division status with Derek Reeves plundering 39 of the champions’106 league goals. On 27 April 1963 a crowd of 68,000 at Villa Park saw them lose 1–0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final. In 1966, when Ted Bates’ team were promoted to the First Division as runners-up, for the following campaign Ron Davies arrived to score 43 goals in his first season. Saints stayed among the elite for eight years, with the highest finishing position being seventh place in 1968–69 and again in 1970–71. These finishes were high enough for them to qualify for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969–70 and its successor, the UEFA Cup in 1971–72, in December 1973, Bates stood down to be replaced by his assistant Lawrie McMenemy. The Saints were one of the first victims of the new three-down relegation system in 1974, the following season, they played in Europe again in the Cup Winners Cup, reaching Round 3 where they lost 2–3 on aggregate to Anderlecht. In 1977–78, captained by Alan Ball, Saints finished runners-up in the Second Division and they finished comfortably in 14th place in their first season back in the top flight

21.
Port Vale F.C.
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Port Vale Football Club is a professional association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. The team compete in League One, the tier of the English football league system. Port Vale is one of the few English league clubs not to be named after a location, their name being a reference to the valley of ports on the Trent. They were founder members of the Second Division in 1892 and of the Fourth Division in 1958 and they have never played top-flight football, and hold the record for the most seasons in the English Football League without reaching the top tier. After playing at the Athletic Ground in Cobridge and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley, outside the ground is a statue to Roy Sproson, who played 842 competitive games for the club. John Rudge was manager from 1983 to 1999, under his leadership the club lifted the Football League Trophy in 1993, since his reign the club have declined, slipping into the fourth tier whilst entering twice administration in 2003 and 2012. The decline was arrested when Norman Smurthwaite brought the club out of administration in 2012, the clubs traditional rivals are Stoke City, and games between the two are known as the Potteries derby. However, the story given on the club website is that Port Vale F. C. was formed in 1876, following a meeting at Port Vale House. They played their football at Limekiln Lane, Longport and from 1880 at Westport, the club moved to Burslem in 1884, changing its name to Burslem Port Vale in the process, they played at Moorland Road before moving into the Athletic Ground in 1885. In 1892 the club were members of the Football League Second Division. The club dropped Burslem from their name in 1907 – a dark time of financial difficulties where the club were forced to resign from the league, the club were relegated for the first time during the 1928–29 season, going from the Second Division to the Third Division North. They came up the season as champions. In the 1930–31 season they placed fifth in the tier of English football. After this peak, the club were again relegated in the 1935–36 season. In 1950, Vale Park was completed, the fifth ground. Steele quickly established himself at the club, masterminding the celebrated Iron Curtain defence, three years later, the club were once again relegated, and once again became founder members of a league – this time the Football League Fourth Division. In their first season in new division the club took the title with a club record 110 goals. During the 1960s, the Vale fans witnessed numerous good cup runs, in 1967, Stanley Matthews took over, his reign ended in tears in 1968 as Vale were expelled from the Football League over seemingly illegal payments made to players

22.
Old Recreation Ground
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The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium, located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and home to Port Vale for almost 40 years. The Rec had been Vales home between 1913 and 1950 and was the ground the club used. The stadium was in bad condition, especially following years of neglect during World War II. Port Vale were forced to sell the land to the city council, under the chairmanship of Tom W. Flint after suffering a financial crisis, they received £13,500. This came after the clubs president Major William Huntbach died in 1943, the council initially refused to allow the club to play at their ground, but eventually relented for rent of £400 a year. In 1950, the city decided to construct a shopping centre on the site forcing the club to move to their current home of Vale Park

23.
Leyton Orient F.C.
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Leyton Orient Football Club /ˌleɪtən ˈɔəriənt/ is a professional football club in Leyton, London, England. They play in League Two, the tier of the English football league system. The clubs home colours are all red, Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63. In 1978, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the time in their history. Between October 1993 and September 1995, Orient did not win an away game in the league. Leyton Orients home ground Brisbane Road is officially known as the Matchroom Stadium after former club chairman Barry Hearns sports promotion company, in 2014, Hearn sold the club to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti. Leyton Orient finished seventh, one away from the playoff positions. In the 2013–14 season, Orient lost the League One Play-Off final at Wembley to Rotherham United, the team has had several name changes since, first as Eagle Cricket Club in 1886 then as Orient Football Club in 1888. Indeed, the nickname the Savage Cuts came from a particularly gruesome incident during training in the 19th Century when the goalkeeper suffered a laceration to the arm. A cry was heard across the pitch, the goalkeeper is cut, its a deep and savage cut. The other players believing this to be a lampoon, mockingly repeated, we have savage cuts, the Os are the second-oldest league club in London behind Fulham and are the 24th oldest club currently playing in the Football League. Following Fulhams promotion to the Premier League they became the oldest London club playing in the Football League and they played in the Second Division of the Southern Federations League in 1904, joined the Football League in 1905. By this time such as part-time outside right, Herbert Kingaby could earn £2 4s per week – payment being somewhat sporadic. The twelve History books written on the club by its historian Neilson N. C, the name Leyton Orient was adopted following the conclusion of the Second World War. The club had moved to Leyton in 1937, though there was another team called Leyton F. C. A further rename back to simply Orient took place in 1966 after the Borough of Leyton was absorbed into the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the 1914–15 season was the last football season before the League was suspended due to the outbreak of the First World War. Forty one members of the Clapton Orient team and staff joined up into the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, the highest of any team in the country. At the final game of the season – Clapton Orient vs Leicester Fosse,20,000 people came out to support the team, a farewell parade was also hosted, but not before the Os had won 2–0

24.
Notts County F.C.
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Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. With records of games as early as 28 November 1862, Notts County is recognised as the oldest association football team in the world now playing at a professional level. Between 1888–89 and 2013–14 they played a total of 4,756 Football League matches – more than any other English team, the team plays in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. County play their games at Meadow Lane in black and white striped shirts. The club has had spells in the top division of English football, most recently in 1991–92. Notable former managers of Notts County include Jimmy Sirrel, Howard Wilkinson, Neil Warnock, Howard Kendall, the club has had several owners. In the 21st century, a series of problems has seen the club owned by a supporters trust. Notts County are the oldest professional club in the world having been formed in 1862. Notts pre-dated The Football Association and initially played a game of its own devising, at the time of its formation, Notts County, like most sports teams, were considered to be a gentlemen-only club. Notts County are considered to be one of the pioneers of the game and are the oldest of the worlds professional association football clubs. In November 1872, the Notts County full-back Ernest Greenhalgh played for England against Scotland in the international match. In 1888, Notts County, along with 11 other football clubs and they finished their first league season in 11th place, but avoided the dubious honour of the wooden spoon, which went to Midlands rivals Stoke. However, Notts County did achieve their highest ever finish of third in 1890–91. On 25 March 1891, Notts County reached the FA Cup final for the first time, the Magpies were defeated 3–1 by Blackburn Rovers at The Oval, despite having beaten the same side 7–1 in the league only a week earlier. This achievement is also memorable for Notts County becoming the first club outside the top division to win the FA Cup, in 1910 they moved to Meadow Lane. Notts County were relegated in 1926 in what was to be their last season in the English top flight for half a century. The 1925–26 season was the last season that famed giant goalkeeper Albert Iremonger played for the club, in the 1946–47 season, the ground was used temporarily by Nottingham Forest after the River Trent flooded both Meadow Lane and the City Ground. Forest again used Meadow Lane in 1968, after fire destroyed the main stand at the City Ground, the golden age of the club came just after the end of World War II

25.
Meadow Lane
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Not to be confused with The Meadow, home of Southern Football League Premier Division football team Chesham United The Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the ground of Notts County, who have played there since 1910. The stadium is home to Notts County Ladies F. C. since 2014. It currently has a capacity of 19,841 for Football League games. The record attendance is 47,310, who watched Notts lose 1–0 to York City in the FA Cup Sixth Round on 12 March 1955, Meadow Lane lies just three hundred yards away from the City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest. The two grounds are the closest in England and the second-closest in the United Kingdom after the grounds of Dundee and Dundee United, the Trent End of the City Ground is visible from parts of the Jimmy Sirrel stand and the Spion Kop. The stadium also hosts the mens and womens football in the Varsity Series – a sporting series contested by Nottingham Trent University, prior to 1910, Notts County played their home games across the River Trent at Trent Bridge as a tenant of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Cricket took priority on the ground and the club were often forced to play early. In 1910, a plot of land near the market on the opposite side of the River Trent was leased from the city council. Part of the new stadium was a stand from Trent Bridge which was literally floated across the river. On 3 September 1910, County moved to Meadow Lane, the first game was a 1–1 draw with old rivals Nottingham Forest, played in front of 27,000 fans paying receipts of £775. In 1920 the landlord, Nottingham Corporation, which leased the land to the club, the stadium remained largely the same until 1923 when the Sneinton Side was replaced with a new stand, named the County Road Stand after the newly constructed road behind it. Meadow Lane was bombed during World War II forcing the club to suspend all fixtures during the 1942 season, the northern side of the Main Stand was badly damaged and the pitch left in an unplayable condition. The stadium has played host to Forest games on a number of occasions, during the 1970s and 80s the stadium became increasingly dilapidated. The Meadow Lane End was demolished in 1978 and replaced by a building which housed new dressing rooms, a social club, there was no stand at this end for several years and Meadow Lane was reduced to a three sided ground. Eventually a small terrace was installed on this side, Meadow Lane was subsequently redeveloped during the early 1990s, although the work was planned before the report was issued. The Meadow Lane End, County Road Stand and Spion Kop were all demolished in the 1992 close season and replaced with the Family Stand, the Jimmy Sirrel Stand, the Main Stand was replaced during the close season of 1994 by the Derek Pavis Stand. In June 2002, as part of a deal, the ground was briefly renamed the Aaron Scargill Stadium

26.
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club /ˌwʊlvərˈhæmptən/ is a professional association football club based in the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. The club was known as St. Lukes FC and was founded in 1877. They compete in the Championship, the second highest tier of English football, the following season saw two further managers dismissed as the club then suffered a second relegation, ending up in League One. However, in the season they gained promotion back to the Championship where they currently reside. The clubs current head coach is Paul Lambert, who took charge in November 2016, having become professional, the club were nominated to become one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888, in which they played the first Football League match ever staged. They ended the season in third place, as well as reaching their first FA Cup Final, losing 0–3 to the first Double winners. At the conclusion of the campaign the club relocated for a time when they moved to Molineux. Wolves lifted the FA Cup for the first time in 1893 when they beat Everton 1–0, and added a second triumph in 1908, two years after having dropped into the Second Division. After struggling for years to regain their place in the top division, the club suffered a further relegation in 1923, entering the Third Division. Eight years later Wolves regained their status after winning the Second Division title under Major Frank Buckley. This game had been the last in a Wolves shirt for Stan Cullis, the 1950s were by far the most successful period in the clubs history. Captained by Billy Wright, Wolves finally claimed the championship for the first time in 1953–54. This became the final spur for Gabriel Hanot, the editor of LÉquipe, to propose the creation of the European Cup, although the decade opened with a fourth FA Cup victory and almost the first double of the 20th century, the 1960s saw Wolves begin to decline. Cullis was sacked in September 1964 in a season that ended with relegation and this exile would last only two seasons though, as they were promoted in 1967 as runners-up. During the close season in 1967, Wolves played a season in North America as part of the fledgling United Soccer Association league which imported clubs from Europe. Playing as the Los Angeles Wolves, they won the Western Division, the clubs return to the English top flight heralded another period of relative success under Bill McGarry, with a fourth place in 1971 qualifying them for the newly created UEFA Cup. They lifted silverware though two later, when they won the League Cup for the first time by beating Manchester City 2–1 in the final. The club was saved from liquidation at the last minute when it was purchased by a consortium fronted by former player Derek Dougan

27.
Hull City F.C.
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Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club participates in the Premier League, the top tier of English football – and their greatest achievement in cup competitions came in 2014, when the team reached the final of the FA Cup. In 2007–08 they achieved promotion to the top flight of English football for the first time in their history by winning the Championship play-off Final at Wembley Stadium and their highest league finish was for the 2013–14 season, in which they finished 16th in the Premier League table. Hull City play their games at the KCOM Stadium. They moved there in 2002 after playing their previous 56 seasons at Boothferry Park, Boothferry Park has since been demolished and been replaced by a housing development. Hull traditionally play in black and amber, often with a shirt design. The clubs mascots are Roary the Tiger and his sister Amber. C. and these early matches were played at the Boulevard, the home of Hull F. C. The clubs first competitive match was in the FA Cup preliminary round, drawing 3–3 with Stockton on 17 September. After disputes with landlords at the Boulevard, Hull City moved to Anlaby Road Cricket Ground, after having played 44 friendly fixtures the previous season, Hull City were finally admitted into the Football League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. Other teams competing in the league season included the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as Yorkshire rivals Barnsley, Bradford City. Hull defeated Barnsley 4–1 at home in their first game and finished the season in fifth place, the following season a new ground was built for Hull City across the road from the cricket ground. Still under the managership of Ambrose Langley, Hull continued to finish consistently in the top half of the table and they came close to promotion in the 1909–10 season, recording what would be their highest finish until they matched it in 2008. Hull finished third, level on points with second placed Oldham Athletic, Hulls greatest achievement in cup competitions until 2014 was in 1930, when they reached the FA Cup semi-finals. The cup run saw Hull knock out the champions of the Second and Third Divisions, Blackpool. They then knocked out Manchester City, to meet Newcastle United in the quarter-finals, the first game at St James Park finished as a 1–1 draw, but in the replay Hull beat Newcastle 1–0. The semi-final match against Arsenal took place at Elland Road in Leeds, the game ended 2–2, Arsenal knocked Hull out at Villa Park, the game ending 1–0. After the Second World War, the moved to another new ground. In the 1948–49 season, managed by former England international Raich Carter, Hull also became the first team in the world to go out of a cup competition on penalties, beaten by Manchester United in the semi-final of the Watney Cup on 1 August 1970

28.
Preston North End F.C.
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Preston North End Football Club is a professional association football club located in the Deepdale area of Preston, Lancashire. They play in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Prestons unbeaten League and Cup season earned them the nickname The Invincibles, Prestons most recent major trophy success was their FA Cup victory over Huddersfield Town in 1938. Many notable players have played for the club, including Tom Finney, Bill Shankly, Tommy Docherty, Alan Kelly, Sr. and Graham Alexander. On 21 January 1875, the club leased a field opposite Moor Park on the site of the current Deepdale stadium, Preston North End were famously successful during the early years of professional football in England. In 1887, Preston beat Hyde 26–0 in the First Round of the FA Cup, Preston forward Jimmy Ross scored eight goals in the match, going on to score 19 goals in the competition that season, also still a record. The clubs last major win was their FA Cup triumph in 1938. Prestons most famous player, Sir Tom Finney, played for the club between 1946 and 1960, Finney is considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time, and was also a local lad, dubbed the Preston Plumber due to his professional training as a plumber. Finney remains the top goalscorer, with 187 goals from 433 appearances. Following Finneys retirement, Preston were relegated to the Second Division in 1961 and have not played in the top division since, the club did reach the FA Cup final in 1964, but lost to West Ham United. Preston were relegated to the Third Division in the 1969–70 season, Alan Ball, Sr. John McGrath oversaw Prestons promotion back to the Third Division a year later, where they remained when John Beck took over in October 1992. The 38-year-old Beck had only recently been sacked by Cambridge United, the club almost made it two promotions in a row to reach the Premier League, but lost to Bolton Wanderers in the 2001 play-off final. Simon Grayson was appointed by the club on 18 February 2013, of Simon Graysons next 10 games, Preston won 3, drew 4 and lost 3. In Simon Graysons first summer in charge, he permanently signed 4 players, Tom Clarke, a centreback, Chris Humphrey, a winger, Kevin Davies, a Centre forward and Alex Nicholson. He also signed Declan Rudd on a long loan from Norwich City. He allowed 3 players to leave during the summer, those being Luke Foster, Chris Robertson, the 2013–14 season started off well, unbeaten in their first 9 league games. They also beat local rivals Blackpool in the League Cup, before being beaten by Lancashire rivals Burnley in the second round. The 9 league game unbeaten run came to an end on 5 October, against Peterborough United, Preston then went on another 9 game unbeaten league run, winning 5 and drawing 4, including a win against Leyton Orient, only their second league defeat of the season

29.
Deepdale
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The land on which the stadium stands was originally Deepdale Farm. It was leased on 21 January 1875 by the towns North End sports club and originally used for cricket and it hosted its first association football match on 5 October 1878. As football grew in popularity, it necessary to have raised areas. In the 1890s Preston built the West Paddock, which ran along the touch line, by the turn of the century, crowds were regularly over 10,000 and in 1921 they had to expand again. The Spion Kop was built and the West Paddock was extended to meet the Kop end, the pitch was removed to allow the building of the Town End, which was completed in 1928 but was destroyed by fire only five years later and had to be rebuilt. The Pavilion Stand, a small stand of two tiers holding the changing rooms and offices, was built and opened in 1934. The record league attendance for Preston North End at Deepdale is 42,684 v Arsenal in the First Division,23 April 1938, the womens team Dick, Kerrs Ladies also used to played at Deepdale, often beating mens professional teams in front of large crowds. During the 1960s and 1980s, big changes took place as roofs were placed on the stands, seating was installed, the original plans for the re-developed stadium were inspired by the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy. The regeneration of Deepdale began in 1995 when the old West Stand was demolished to make way for the new £4. 4m Sir Tom Finney Stand which includes press areas and restaurants. The next stand to be developed was the Bill Shankly Kop in 1998, followed by the Alan Kelly Town End in 2001, in 2008, a 25-metre screen was also erected on the roof of the Bill Shankly Kop. The statue, unveiled in July 2004, was inspired by a photo taken at the Chelsea versus PNE game played at Stamford Bridge, there had been a big downpour just before the kick off. The match would not have been played today because there were huge pools of water on the playing surface, I was going past a defender and the ball ran in to a pool of water. It was a photograph and it won the Sports Photograph of the Year award. The sculpture is a true likeness, Deepdale was used during the 2005 UEFA Womens Championship for three group games and a semi-final. Deepdale was the venue when the England Under-21s played Iceland in March 2011, Deepdale was used again at the end of the 2011–12 season to host two England Under-19s Elite Qualifying Round matches against Slovenia and Switzerland. Webcam showing construction of the fourth Stand

30.
Bradford City F.C.
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Bradford City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team play in League One, the tier of English football. The club was founded in 1903 and immediately elected into the Football League Second Division, promotion to the top tier followed in 1908 and the club won the FA Cup in 1911, its only major honour. After relegation in 1922 from Division One, the club spent 77 years outside the top flight until promotion to the Premier League in 1999. Relegation followed in 2000–01 and since then a series of financial crises have pushed the club to the brink of closure, in the 2012–13 season, they became the first team from the fourth tier of English football to reach the League Cup Final, losing 5–0 to Swansea City. In the same season, they returned to Wembley for the playoff final, the clubs colours are claret and amber and they play home games at Valley Parade. The ground was the site of the Bradford City stadium fire on 11 May 1985 which took the lives of 56 supporters, stuart McCall, the current manager, was appointed in June 2016. C. The Football League saw the invitation as a chance to promote football in the rugby league-dominated county of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It duly elected the new club into Division Two of the league, four days later, at the 23rd annual meeting of Manningham FC, the committee decided to change code from rugby league to association football. Bradford City Association Football Club were formed without having played a game, taking over Manninghams colours of claret and amber, robert Campbell was appointed the clubs first manager and with the help of the new committee, he assembled a playing squad at the cost of £917 10s 0d. Citys first game was a 2–0 defeat at Grimsby Town on 1 September 1903, the club finished 10th in their first season. Peter ORourke took over as manager in November 1905, and he led City to the Division Two title in 1907–08, having narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight, City recorded their highest finish of 5th in 1910–11. The same season won the FA Cup, when a goal from captain Jimmy Speirs won the final replay against Newcastle United. Citys defence of the cup, which included the first Bradford derby against Bradford Park Avenue, was stopped by Barnsley after a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets. City remained in the top flight in the period up to the First World War, back in Division Two, attendances dropped and City struggled for form, with five consecutive finishes in the bottom half of the table. They suffered a relegation to Division Three in 1926–27. Two seasons later, ORourke, who had retired in 1921 following the death of his son. ORourke left for a time after one more season, and although City spent a total of eight seasons back in Division Two

31.
Valley Parade
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Valley Parade, also known as the Northern Commercials Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903 and it has been Bradford Citys home since, although it is now owned by former chairman Gordon Gibbs pension fund. It has also been home to Bradford for one season, Football architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to redevelop the ground when Bradford City were promoted to the First Division in 1908. From then, the stadium underwent few changes until 1985, when it was the scene of a fire on 11 May 1985. It underwent a £2.6 million redevelopment and was re-opened in December 1986, the ground underwent significant changes in the 1990s, and early 2000s, and now has a capacity of 25,136. The record attendance of 39,146 was set in 1911 for an FA Cup tie against Burnley, Manningham Rugby Football Club, formed in 1876, originally played games at Cardigan Fields, in the Carlisle Road area of Bradford. When their ground was sold to facilitate the construction of Drummond School, consequently, they bought one-third of the Valley Parade site in Manningham, taking a short-term lease out on the rest of the land in time to play there for the 1886–87 season. The new ground and the road it was built upon both adopted the name of the area, Valley Parade, a name deriving from the steep hillside below Manningham. The land was previously a quarry, and formed part of a site owned by Midland Railway Company. The club spent £1,400 appointing designers to oversee the excavation and levelling of the land, the playing field was made of ballast, ashes, soil and sods. The game had been organised to stimulate interest in the sport in Bradford, the new football club, Bradford City, were elected to The Football Leagues Division Two the following month. Bradford Citys first game at Valley Parade came on 5 September 1903 against Gainsborough Trinity, however, after Citys 5–1 defeat by Manchester United on 10 February 1906, United player Bob Bonthron was attacked as he left the ground. As a result, The Football Association closed the ground for 14 days, several supporters faced criminal proceedings for the incident. After Bradford City won the Division Two championship in 1907–08, the club hurried through a programme of the ground to prepare for the clubs first season in Division One. Further work was performed to lower the railings, erect barriers, move the pitch, the changing rooms were also moved, with a tunnel leading from the rooms underneath the Kop along the main stand side of the ground. The total project cost £9,958, and raised the capacity to 40,000, the work was not completed until midway through the 1908–09 season. The first match after work was finished took place on Christmas Day 1908, the improvements allowed Bradford City to set their record attendance of 39,146 on 11 March 1911 against Burnley during the clubs FA Cup winning run. It is the longest surviving attendance record at any ground in the country

32.
Ayresome Park
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Middlesbrough had previously played at Linthorpe Road West cricket ground, but election to the Football League meant that an improved stadium was required. Ayresome Park was built at Paradise Field, adjacent to the old Paradise Ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis, the highest attendance at the ground was set on 27 December 1949, when Middlesbrough played their North East rivals Newcastle United. Ayresome Park was also one of the venues for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, three games were played at the ground, involving the Soviet Union, North Korea, Italy and Chile. North Korea famously beat Italy 1–0 at the ground, to out of the World Cup one of the most powerful footballing nations. However, the attendances at Ayresome Park were among the lowest in the entire tournament, however, they were soon back at Ayresome Park after a takeover deal saved the club. Despite this crisis, a £1.2 million sports centre was opened at the stadium on 3 March 1986 after a delay caused by fire. It was also a fine first season in management for the new manager Bryan Robson. John Hendrie, a key player for Boro during the first half of the 1990s, the select XIs other goals were scored by Beardsley and Bernie Slaven, Paul Wilkinson scoring the Boros only goal. Boro collected the First Division Championship Trophy following the game, Ayresome Park was retained as a training ground for a year until a new facility was opened, and it was finally demolished in early 1997. The site of the stadium is now a housing estate, to commemorate the ground, the gates of Ayresome Park have been erected outside the main entrance to the clubs new ground, the Riverside Stadium. Ayresome Park Remembered Website World Stadia Article

33.
Fratton Park
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Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F. C. since its construction in 1898, the stadium has four all seated stands with a capacity for 21,100 supporters. The pitch, measuring 115 x 73 yards, is aligned from east to west, the largest and most modern stand is called the Fratton End, which was opened in 1997. The Fratton End is located at the end of the Fratton Park stadium. Along either side of the pitch are the North and South stands, at the eastern end of the stadium is the smallest stand, the Milton End. Notably, the Milton End was the only stand in the Premier League. The Milton End is used by visiting away supporters, the original entrance to Fratton End is notable for its mock Tudor façade. The North Stand was refreshed for the 2010-11 season with renewed sponsorship by Mercedes-Benz car dealer Ridgeway which replaced the Fratton Park Portsmouth, the stadium is served by Fratton railway station, which is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line. The main stand was designed by renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, however, these were largely removed with the expansion of the ground. The first match at Fratton Park was a friendly against local rivals Southampton, Fratton Park hosted a first-round football game in the 1948 Summer Olympics, one of only two grounds outside London to host matches in that tournament. It hosted one full England international match on 2 March 1903 against Wales and has hosted some England U-21 internationals. Pompey was the first club to stage a Football League match under floodlights, new floodlight towers were constructed in 1962. It has held 51,385 for an FA Cup match against Derby County in 1949, the capacity has in recent years been much reduced by the introduction of compulsory seating. The ground has been home to the club throughout its entire history, the old stadium has been refurbished and repaired, but the current facilities are showing signs of age. At the end of the 2003–04 season, the club having survived its first season in the Premier League, work on the stadium was due to commence in the summer of 2006, and the first phase of the redevelopment completed a year later. These plans were ambitious and included creating a village around the stadium, complete with 1,500 waterfront apartments as well as restaurants. These plans were dropped before work could begin. The club had undertaken consultation and there were a number of objectors to the proposal, the Royal Navy also said that the proposal would cause problems with the proposed introduction of its new aircraft carriers

34.
Craven Cottage
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Craven Cottage is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It has been the ground of Fulham F. C. since 1896. The grounds current capacity is 25,700, all-seated, though the record attendance is 49,335, located next to Bishops Park on the banks of the River Thames, Craven Cottage was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back over 300 years. The original Cottage was built in 1780, by William Craven, at the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyns hunting grounds. The Cottage was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton and other notable persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist among Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage, sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are reputed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Following the fire, the site was abandoned, Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall, meaning that only their former landlords, of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulhams palatial home from 1886–1888. When representatives of Fulham first came across the land, in 1894, a deal was struck for the owners of the ground to carry out the work, in return for which they would receive a proportion of the gate receipts. The first football match at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, the grounds first stand was built shortly after. Described as looking like a box, it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats. In 1904 London County Council became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, in a scheme costing £15,000, he built a pavilion and the Stevenage Road Stand, in his characteristic red brick style. Both the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch football architecture to remain in existence, an England v Wales match was played at the ground in 1907, followed by a rugby league international between England and Australia in 1911. One of the clubs directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hall, took over Arsenal in the early 1910s and this move was largely motivated by Fulhams failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. There were also plans for Henry Norris to build a stadium on the other side of Stevenage Road. During this era, the Cottage was used for singing and marching bands along with other performances. In 1933 there were plans to demolish the ground and start again from scratch with a new 80,000 capacity stadium and these plans never materialised mainly due to the Great Depression. On 8 October 1938,49,335 spectators watched Fulham play Millwall, the reason for this exceptionally large crowd was that the game at Stamford Bridge had suddenly been cancelled and so a lot of people made their way west to the Cottage that afternoon instead

35.
Bloomfield Road
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Bloomfield Road is a 17, 338-capacity all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire, in an area known as South Shore. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F. C. since 1901, the stadium is named after the road on which the main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000, June of that year saw the demolition of the Spion Kop at the north end of the ground, an all-seated stand has now replaced it. The rebuilding of the West Stand was completed in August 2002, in March 2010, the South Stand, whose original structure was pulled down in 2003, was opened by Jimmy Armfield, the former Blackpool player for whom the stand is named. Bloomfield Road is ranked 52 in the list of English football stadiums by capacity, the record attendance at the original Bloomfield Road was 38,098, which occurred when Blackpool played Wolverhampton Wanderers on 17 September 1955. The record at the stadium is 16,116, which occurred for the visit of Manchester City on 17 October 2010. The record gate receipts for a game is £72,949. The stadium hosted three matches during the 2005 UEFA Womens Championship and it has also been the venue for the annual final of the Northern Rail Cup, a rugby league tournament, since 2005. The clubs mascot, who can be seen at home game, is Bloomfield Bear. He replaced the long-serving Cable Cat, who was retired in June 2000, before moving to Bloomfield Road, Blackpool had called two other grounds home during their short existence. Firstly, between 1896 and 1897, they played their fifteen home Football League matches at Raikes Hall Gardens, in 1897, they moved to the Athletic Grounds at the present-day Stanley Park, which hosted thirty-two League matches over two seasons. Between 8 September 1900 and 8 May 2016, Blackpool have played 2,223 Football League games at Bloomfield Road, between August 2010 and May 2011, they played nineteen Premier League games at the ground. Of these they won five, drew five and lost nine, the ground was originally known as Gambles Field, so-named for the farmer who owned the land, when South Shore F. C. played there in the Lancashire League in 1899. The first competitive game played at the ground took place on 21 October 1899, a comment at the time was, The new ground was not quite finished on Saturday and the linesman had plenty to do besides watching the game to keep the spectators from getting over the line. The grandstand was not up, but it is expected to be ready for next Saturday, a bar is going to be erected and two dressing tents. The official opening of the ground did indeed occur on 28 October 1899, when Blackpool F. C. merged with South Shore F. C. in mid-December 1899, the former club moved into the latters ground and changed the name to Bloomfield Road. Additionally, the two clubs amalgamated with the Lancashire League fixtures of Blackpool, because they were deemed easier than those of South Shore, the first game after the merger took place on 23 December. Horwich R. M. I. with only ten men in their line-up, were the visitors, the ground, at this time, had a small wooden grandstand along the western side of the pitch, which seated about three hundred spectators

36.
Vetch Field
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The Vetch Field was a multi-purpose stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used mostly for football matches and was the ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at the time of its closure, as well as being home to the Swans, the Vetch also hosted games for the Wales national football team, with 18 internationals played at the Vetch between 1921 and 1988. Other sports also found a home at the Vetch, with 8 rugby league matches played there between 1990 and 1999, in 1960, local boy Brian Curvis beat the Australian boxer George Barnes at the Vetch to win the Commonwealth Welterweight title. The stadium also operated as a venue, hosting The Who in 1976. The Vetchs final Football League fixture was a 1-0 win for Swansea over Shrewsbury Town on 30 April 2005, the last ever game of football to be held at the Vetch was the 2005 FAW Premier Cup final, which saw Swansea beat Wrexham 2–1. Named due to the vetch that was grown on its surface at the time, the site was owned by Swansea Gaslight Company in 1912, the site was in a good location and deemed surplus to requirements at the Gas Company, so the club moved in. Originally, the surface was made of compacted coal cinder and players had to wear knee pads for the first season of football there, having seen many changes during its 93 years, the Vetch took its final bow with an FAW Premier Cup Final against Wrexham. The 2004-05 season was the first time in 93 years that the Vetch had the highest average attendance in its division, on 30 April 2005, Adrian Forbes scored the last ever league goal at the Vetch in Swanseas 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town. The player who scored the goal at the Vetch was Andy Robinson. It was suggested that the gable and clock be moved to the Liberty Stadium, also the Away stand, it was a single tier terrace and held about 2,000. The stairs to the upper tier are still visible from the lower, in 2005, the stand was split to accommodate both home and away fans. The stadium had an unusual feature only found at Wembley as well. Originally just a mound of earth with some concrete and railway sleepers on top of it, the big bank grew to be the largest area of the ground. During the late 1950s the supporters trust paid for a roof to be installed, and during the 1970s, and 1980s the Bank became home to the majority of supporters, and the most vocal. The number it could hold was increased towards the end of its life. The East Terrace was originally another mound of earth with some railway sleepers, and remained so until the late 1970s, when the club began its rise through the divisions. It became the first area of the ground to be redeveloped, a small layer of steep terracing lay beneath a stand with a capacity of around 2,500

37.
Oakwell
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Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. The West Stand is the original part of Oakwell Stadium left standing, however. The stand is made up of two tiers, with only the upper tier covered, but at the expense of several supporting columns for the roof structure, the seats are the originals from the early 1900s, and from here you get a decent view with moderate legroom. In spite of the views and modest facilities, the West Stand remains a popular vantage point for many fans. The lower tier of the West Stand is uncovered and offers a view of the action. The roof of the West Stand is corrugated iron and this also houses the main television gantry, which is accessed from the upper tier seating area by a temporary ladder. The stand also incorporates a traditional player tunnel in the centre, the West Stand has a total seating capacity of 4,752. The East Stand is a development, completed in 1993. Funded in part by the football trust, the stand has a capacity of 7,492, the East Stand was designed by NYP Architects, as were the North Stand and the Corner Stand. With the completion of the East Stand, Barnsley FC became the first football club in Yorkshire to incorporate executive boxes into their stadium, the East stand is very modern, and has plenty of legroom. Built in 1995, CK Beckett is the current name for what is known as the Pontefract Road End or Ponty End. Some fans continue to call it the ORA Stand, in reference to its original sponsors and it is also known as the Van Damme Stand. With a capacity of 4,508, the CK Beckett Stand is a large covered seating area behind the goal on the south side of the stadium. This part of the stadium houses the players gym, the club superstore, the box office. The North Stand is the most recent addition to Oakwell Stadium and is a large covered singled-tiered seating area with a capacity of 6,257 spectators. In the 2009–10 season, Sheffield Wednesday, and Newcastle United fans filled the stand with Newcastle fans also taking half of the West Stand, at a cost of £4.5 million, it has been a cause for debate ever since its construction. However, at the time it was built, Barnsley had only just been relegated from the FA Premier League and were planning for a possible return. Built in the summer of 1998 and originally known as The Welcome Windows Stand, access to this area was also incorporated into the neighbouring East Stand on several levels, the spectator capacity of the structure is 202

38.
Molineux Stadium
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Molineux Stadium is a Championship football stadium situated in Wolverhampton, England. The stadium has however hosted England internationals and, more recently, England under-21 internationals, although currently a 31,000 seater stadium, the record attendance at Molineux stands at 61,315. Initial plans were announced in May 2010 to rebuild two sides of the stadium by the 2014–15 season to increase capacity to around 36,000, the first stage of this project began in summer 2011 and was completed on course for the start of the 2012–13 season. There are also future plans for a longer term redevelopment of every stand that could potentially create a 50,000 capacity. It consists of four stands, the Steve Bull Stand, the Sir Jack Hayward Stand, the Stan Cullis Stand, both the Billy Wright and Stan Cullis stands feature statues of each man in front of them. The total seated capacity of the stands is approximately 31,500, the 1940s and 1950s saw average attendances for seasons regularly exceed 40,000, coinciding with the clubs peak on the field. The first was a 6–1 win over Ireland on 7 March 1891, England again beat Ireland, this time 4–0, on 14 February 1903 and lost to Wales 2–1 on 5 February 1936. The last was a 5–2 defeat of Denmark in a 1958 World Cup qualifier on 5 December 1956 and it has also hosted three England under-21 internationals and, in 2005, hosted some European Youth Championship qualifying matches. On 24 June 2003, Molineux also became Wolverhamptons biggest live concert venue, up until May 2011, the ground had a capacity of 29,400. The lower tier of the new North Bank was opened for use in September 2011 for the second home game of the season. The upper tier on the new stand was completed by the start of the 2012–13 season, however the club have delayed the second phase of the redevelopment in rebuilding the Steve Bull Stand. For both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons in the Championship and League One respectively, the South-West Corner has been closed. The Molineux name originates from Benjamin Molineux, a local merchant who, in 1744, purchased land on which he built Molineux House. The estate was purchased in 1860 by O. E, mcGregor, who converted the land into a pleasure park open to the public. Molineux Grounds, as it was titled, included a range of facilities including an ice rink, a cycling track, a boating lake and, most crucially. The grounds were sold to the Northampton Brewery in 1889, who rented its use to Wolverhampton Wanderers, after renovating the site, the first ever league game was staged on 7 September 1889 in a 2–0 victory over Notts County before a crowd of 4,000. Wolves bought the freehold in 1923 for £5,607 and soon set about constructing a grandstand on the Waterloo Road side. In 1932, the club built a new stand on the Molineux Street side

39.
Darlington F.C.
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Darlington Football Club was an English football club based in Darlington, County Durham. The club was founded in 1883, and played its games at Feethams, the arena is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 25,000, although this was restricted to 10,000. The cost of the stadium was a factor in driving the club into administration. The club originally played in organised leagues, and were one of the founding members of the Northern League in 1889. They were first admitted to the Football League when the Third Division North was formed in 1921 and they won the Third Division North title in 1925, and their 15th place in the Second Division in 1926 remained their highest ever league finish. After their admission to the League, they spent most of their history in the bottom tier and they won the Third Division North Cup in 1934, their first victory in nationally organised cup competition. They reached the last 16 of the FA Cup twice, in the early 1990s they won successive titles, with the Conference National in 1990 and the Fourth Division in 1991. In 2011 they won the FA Trophy, defeating Mansfield Town 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, in May 2012, the club was bought out of a period of administration without entering into a Creditors Voluntary Agreement. The Football Association ruled that it should be treated as a new club, the name chosen was Darlington 1883, and that team was placed in the Northern League Division One, which is the ninth tier of English football, for the 2012–13 season. The clubs main rivals were Hartlepool United, the clubs traditional colours were black and white shirts, black shorts and black and white socks. Darlington Football Club duly entered the Durham Challenge Cup, reached the final in their first season, the following season Darlington entered the FA Cup for the first time, only to lose 8–0 to Grimsby Town. Craven was instrumental in the formation of the Northern League in 1889, Darlington were one of the founder members, and went on to win the league title in 1896 and 1900, they reached the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup in the same two seasons. The club turned professional in 1908 and joined the North Eastern League, when competitive football resumed after the war, Darlington finished second in the North Eastern League, and were champions for a second time the following year. This victory was well timed, as it coincided with the formation of the Northern Section of the Football Leagues Third Division and their first season in the Third Division was a successful one and they ended up in second place. Three years later, in 1924–25, they were champions and won promotion to the Football League Second Division. They came as high as third in 1929–30, but twice had to apply for re-election to the League, in 1932–33 and 1936–37, after finishing in last place in the section. The 1957–58 season saw the club equal their previous best FA Cup run, reaching the last 16 by defeating Chelsea, Football League champions only three years earlier, in the Fourth Round. The Supporters Club raised £20,000 to pay for a roof at one end of the Feethams ground and for floodlights, later that night, the West Stand burned down due to an electrical fault

40.
Feethams
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Feethams was a football and cricket ground in Darlington, England. It was the home of Darlington F. C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into a new stadium on the outskirts of Darlington, the football ground was demolished in 2006, while the cricket ground still remains in use. Feethams was the home of the Darlington town cricket club, Darlington C. C. From the 1860s, amateur football had been played on the site, the ground was the venue for one England Amateur international, in 1907, in which the home team defeated the Netherlands 12-2. As this is recognized as a full international by the Dutch FA, unfortunately, times moved on and Feethams and Darlington were in a state of flux. It was decided to build a new stadium and the end of the Feethams era came on 3 May 2003, a capacity crowd saw Darlington come back from two goals down to draw 2–2 with Leyton Orient. With the move to a new stadium at The Darlington Arena and it was finally demolished in February 2006 shortly after an arson attack. However in 2009 the Board sold the field to Esh Developments. In 2014 Persimmon lodged an application to construct 82 homes rather than the 146 houses previously proposed. The ground itself was a typical lower-league affair with terraces and benches providing the majority of accommodation for the spectators, there were four sections, the West Stand, the all-seated East Stand, Polam Lane End and the Tin Shed home terrace. The most modern stand, the East Stand was built in 1997 and was the cause of the clubs financial difficulties. Feethams was unusual in that after entering the turnstiles through the Twin Towers, spectators had to walk around a cricket pitch in order to enter the ground, Feethams has been the venue for many Durham County Cricket Club matches. The ground was home to Durhams first ever victory in the County Championship. Fans history of Feethams from official website Images from Feethams Cricket Archive

41.
Talbot Road
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This is a List of Ontario Tourist Routes throughout the province, which are designated to highlight places of cultural, environmental, or social importance. Although many municipalities, cities, and counties still sign these tourist routes, others may have chosen to discontinue them with the highways they followed, the African-Canadian Heritage Tour is a designated trail along several county and city roads, and provincial highways. The trail starts on Queen Street in the Sandwich neighbourhood of Windsor and it turns west at Prince Road, before turning south along Sandwich Street. It curves along Sandwich Parkway to Ojibway Parkway, formerly Highway 18, the trail follows County Road 20 to Amherstburg to County Road 10, which turns onto. It travels east along Middle Side Road towards the community of McGregor, the route turns north along County Road 9 back to Windsor, Ontario. The ACHT turns east briefly along Highway 3, before turning onto Highway 401 eastbound to exit 28, from there it travels to the town of Puce. The trail turns east along County Road 22 through Belle River until it meets County Road 42 southeast of the town, the trail turns and follows it through Tilbury, becoming Chatham–Kent Road 2, formerly Highway 2. The route turns south onto County Road 7 through the community of Fletcher before turning east onto County Road 14. It follows County Road 14 through North Buxton to Highway 40, upon reaching Highway 40, the trail follows it for 11 km through Chatham. It turns right along County Road 29 and heads northeast through Turnerville and it follows this road to its terminus in Dresden, where the Uncle Toms Cabin Historic Site can be found. The Algonquin Trail is a loop north from Highway 401 through Algonquin Park and back to Highway 7. The route starts at the Highway 35 / Highway 115 and Highway 401 interchange in Newcastle. At the split of Highway 35/115, the trail follows Highway 35 north through Lindsay, Ontario and it continues north along Highway 35 through Coboconk, Minden, Carnarvon and Dorset to Highway 60. From here, the trail turns east and crosses Algonquin Provincial Park, east of the park, Highway 60 meets Highway 41. The trail turns south along that road, passes through Eganville, Ontario, the Bluewater Route follows Highway 21 along the shore of Lake Huron between Highway 402 and Owen Sound. The route passes through the towns of Grand Bend, Goderich and Kincardine. The Deer Trail Route is a route in the Algoma Region of northern Ontario. Though it is circular, it has a point at the junction of Highway 17. It follows Highway 108 for its length, travelling through Elliot Lake

42.
The Dell (Southampton)
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The Dell in Milton Road, Southampton, Hampshire, England was the home ground of Southampton F. C. between 1898 and 2001. Since 1896, Southampton had been tenants of Hampshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground, the merger proposals had fallen through, but at the Extraordinary general meeting in June 1897, the members were informed that the committee had a ground in view. At a shareholders meeting on 11 November 1897, the chairman stated, although the minutes do not record the location of the new ground, it was common knowledge within the town that the new ground was situated. In the dell that is not far from the County Ground, and nearer West Station and the town and it will not be a large ground, but the natural banks on all sides will be a great help in arranging for the convenience of the spectators. The project was abandoned at this point and agreement reached to connected to the London, the dell had been drained with 13,000 ft of pipe being laid, all draining into the central culvert formed from the Rollsbrook stream. The playing field had to be levelled and the made up. On completion, the stadium was described in the Southampton Observer, the stadium was opened in September 1898, with the inaugural match on 3 September being against Brighton United. The first goal at the stadium was scored by Watty Keay, with the others from Abe Hartley, Jim McKenzie and Tom Smith and it hosted an international match in 1901, as England defeated Ireland 3–0 in the 1900–01 British Home Championship. In 1927, the original West Stand was demolished and the new West Stand was built and this was designed by Archibald Leitch, one of the greatest football stand designers of the day, who had also designed stands at Fratton Park, Roker Park and at Goodison Park. A year later, on the last day of the 1928–29 season a dropped cigarette caused a fire destroyed the East Stand. A replacement stand was built which mirrored the West Stand, increasing the capacity to approximately 30,000. On 30 November 1940, a German bomb fell on the stadium during the Blitz, in March 1941, an explosion of munitions stored at the ground caused a major fire in the West Stand although this was rebuilt soon afterwards. At the start of the 1941–42 season they played their games at Dew Lane, Eastleigh. In 1950, the Dell became the first ground in England to have permanent floodlighting installed, during the post-war years, huge crowds packed into the Dell. The attendance record was broken on 8 October 1969, when 31,044 watched Southampton lose 3–0 to a Manchester United team which included George Best and Bobby Charlton. The stadium hosted First Division football for the first time in the 1966-67 season, during this time, Southampton won the FA Cup in 1976, and achieved their highest league finish of second place in 1984. New stands were erected at both ends of the stadium, but by the 1993–94 season the stadium now had a capacity of just over 15,000, the Milton Road Stand was notable for its wedge-like appearance. By this time, Southampton were looking for a new home, by the mid-1990s it seemed as if the search was over as the club announced plans to move to a new stadium at Monks Brook playing fields near the village of North Stoneham, Eastleigh

43.
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It is the ground of Chelsea F. C. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is referred to as simply The Bridge. The capacity is 41,663, making it the eighth largest ground in the Premier League, the club has plans to expand the capacity to 60,000 by the 2021–2022 season. It has undergone major changes over the years, most recently in the 1990s when it was renovated into a modern. Stamford Bridge has been used as a venue for England international matches, FA Cup Finals, FA Cup semi-finals and it has also hosted numerous other sports, such as cricket, rugby union, speedway, greyhound racing, baseball and American football. The stadiums highest official attendance is 82,905, for a match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 12 October 1935. Stamford Bridge is considered to be a derivative of Samfordesbrigge meaning the bridge at the sandy ford, 18th century maps show a Stanford Creek running along the route of what is now a railway line at the back of the East Stand as a tributary of the Thames. The upper reaches of this tributary have been known as Billingswell Ditch, Pools Creek, in mediaeval times the Creek was known as Billingwell Dyche, derived from Billings spring or stream. It formed the boundary between the parishes of Kensington and Fulham, by the 18th century the creek had become known as Counters Creek which is the name it has retained since. However, previous to this, in 1898, Stamford Bridge played host to the World Championship of shinty between Beauly Shinty Club and London Camanachd. Stamford Bridge was built close to Lillie Bridge, a sports ground which had hosted the 1873 FA Cup Final. It was initially offered to Fulham Football Club, but they turned it down for financial reasons. After considering the sale of the land to the Great Western Railway Company, noted football ground architect Archibald Leitch, who had also designed Ibrox, Celtic Park, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park, was hired to construct the stadium. In its early days, Stamford Bridge stadium was served by a railway station, Chelsea and Fulham railway station. Stamford Bridge had a capacity of around 100,000. It was used as the FA Cup final venue, as originally constructed, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track and the pitch was initially located in the middle of the running track. The stadium had a stand for 5,000 spectators on the east side

44.
Birmingham City F.C.
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Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, the team compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. As Small Heath, they played in the Football Alliance before becoming founder members, the most successful period in their history was in the 1950s and early 1960s. They won the competition for the second time in 2011. St Andrews has been their ground since 1906. They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Aston Villa, their nearest neighbours, the clubs nickname is Blues, due to the colour of their kit, and their fans are known as Bluenoses. Birmingham City were founded as Small Heath Alliance in 1875, the club turned professional in 1885, and three years later became the first football club to become a limited company with a board of directors, under the name of Small Heath F. C. Ltd. From the 1889–90 season they played in the Football Alliance, which ran alongside the Football League, in 1892, Small Heath, along with the other Alliance teams, were invited to join the newly formed Football League Second Division. The club adopted the name Birmingham Football Club in 1905, and moved into their new home, St Andrews Ground, matters on the field failed to live up to their surroundings. Birmingham were relegated in 1908, obliged to apply for two years later, and remained in the Second Division until after the First World War. Frank Womacks captaincy and the creativity of Scottish international playmaker Johnny Crosbie contributed much to Birmingham winning their second Division Two title in 1920–21, Womack went on to make 515 appearances, a club record for an outfielder, over a twenty-year career. 1920 also saw the debut of the 19-year-old Joe Bradford, who went on to score a club record 267 goals in 445 games, and won 12 caps for England. In 1931, manager Leslie Knighton led the club to their first FA Cup Final and they were finally relegated in 1939, the last full season before the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War. The name Birmingham City F. C. was adopted in 1943, under Harry Storer, appointed manager in 1945, the club won the Football League South wartime league and reached the semifinal of the first post-war FA Cup. Two years later won their third Second Division title, conceding only 24 goals in the 42-game season. Storers successor Bob Brocklebank, though unable to stave off relegation in 1950, when Arthur Turner took over as manager in November 1954, he made them play closer to their potential, and a 5–1 win on the last day of the 1954–55 season confirmed them as champions. In their first season back in the First Division, Birmingham achieved their highest league finish of sixth place. They also reached the FA Cup final, losing 3–1 to Manchester City in the game notable for Citys goalkeeper Bert Trautmann playing the last 20 minutes with a bone in his neck

Manchester City F.C.
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Manchester City Football Club is a football club in Manchester, England. Founded in 1880 as St. Marks, they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887, the club moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003, having played at Maine Road since 1923. After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline, having regained

1.
St. Marks (Gorton) in 1884 – the reason for the Maltese cross is now unknown

2.
Manchester City

3.
The Manchester City team which won the FA Cup in 1904

4.
Manchester City against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League in 2011

Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the

1.
Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.

2.
Flag

3.
The class I Pictish stone at Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.

Tommy Johnson (footballer born 1900)
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Thomas Clark Fisher Tommy Johnson was an English football player who played as either a centre forward or an inside forward. He started his career at Manchester City in 1919. Known for his left foot shot, Johnson holds the record for the most goals scored by a Manchester City player in a single season. He played for Manchester City in the 1926 FA C

1.
Tommy Johnson

Nottingham Forest F.C.
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Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottinghamshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club, often referred to as Forest, have played matches at the City Ground since 1898. Founded in 1865, Forest were founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889, since

1.
The 1898 FA Cup-winning team

2.
Nottingham Forest F.C.

3.
Brian Clough managed Nottingham Forest for 18 years.

4.
Nigel Doughty: Nottingham Forest owner 1999–2012

Middlesbrough F.C.
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Middlesbrough Football Club is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since 1995 and they played at the Linthorpe Road ground from 1882 to 1903 and at Ayresome Park for 92 years, from 1903 to 1995. They were one of the members of the Premie

1.
The 2004 League Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium.

2.
Middlesbrough

3.
Middlesbrough shirts, 1994–2010

4.
The Riverside Stadium in 2006, with the old gates to Ayresome Park in the foreground

Portsmouth F.C.
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Portsmouth Football Club /ˈpɔərtsməθ/ is a professional football club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which plays in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the formation in 1898. Portsmouth have been champions of England twice, in 1949 and 1950, in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, Portsmouth pla

1.
The scoreboard at the end of the 2008 FA Cup Final, in which Portsmouth beat Cardiff City 1–0

2.
Portsmouth F.C.

3.
International strikers Peter Crouch and Nwankwo Kanu kick off for Portsmouth in their UEFA Cup match against AC Milan

4.
The entrance to Fratton Park's South Stand, with its mock Tudor facade

Chelsea F.C.
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Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The

1.
The first Chelsea team in September 1905

2.
Chelsea

3.
Chelsea players celebrate their first UEFA Champions League title against Bayern Munich.

4.
Stamford Bridge

Fulham F.C.
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Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, Greater London, England. Founded in 1879, they play in the Championship, the tier of English football. They are the football team from London to have played in the Premier League. The club has spent 25 seasons in English footballs top division, the latter spell was as

Maine Road
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Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F. C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, Charity Shield matches, a League Cup final and England matches and, because of its high capacity, gained the nickname Wembley of the North. The following season Manchester City moved to the Cit

1.
Aerial view of Maine Road on 11 May 2003, the day of the final match

2.
The main stand in the 1930s

3.
Facing the Kippax stand in 1985

4.
The new, taller Kippax stand

Grimsby Town F.C.
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Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the tier of league football in England. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town, the club is located at Blundell Park where it has been si

1.
The Findus Stand (formerly the Carlsberg Stand).

2.
Grimsby Town F.C.

Blundell Park
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Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains, the current capacity of the ground is 9,052, after being made all-seater in summer 1995, reducing the number from around 27,000. Several relegations i

1.
The Findus Stand (previously John Smith's stand) in 2003.

2.
The Findus Stand.

3.
The Main Stand.

4.
The Osmond Stand (Away End).

Oldham Athletic F.C.
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Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The team compete in League One, the tier of English football. The history of Oldham Athletic A. F. C. begins with the founding of Pine Villa F. C. in 1895, playing in the Manchester and Lancashire leagues.

1.
Oldham Athletic in 1905

2.
Oldham Athletic.

3.
Oldham Athletic (in yellow) in a friendly match against Bury during the 2009–10 season

4.
Rochdale Road stand

Boundary Park
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Boundary Park, known as SportsDirect. com Park for sponsorship purposes, is a sports stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It lies at the extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Boundary Park was originally known as the Athletic Ground when it was opened in 1896 for Oldhams first prof

1.
Verlin (Rochdale Road) stand

2.
Inside Boundary Park

3.
Outside of the Boundary Park ground

Blackpool F.C.
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Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. For the 2016–17 season, they are competing in League Two, founded in 1887, Blackpools home ground has been Bloomfield Road since 1901. Their main nickname is the Seasiders, but they are called the Pool and the Tangerines,

1.
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool's home since 1899, during its reconstruction phase in the early part of the 21st century. This view is looking north.

Reading F.C.
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Reading Football Club is a professional association football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of English football. The club played at Elm Park for 102 years between 1896 and 1998, in 1998 the club moved to the new Madejski Stadium, which is named after the clubs co-chairman Sir John Madejski. Re

1.
The team from the 1926–27 season

2.
Reading

3.
The last ever competitive match played at Elm Park between Reading and Norwich City in May 1998

4.
Elm Park was Reading's stadium for 102 years, pictured in 1981

Elm Park (stadium)
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Elm Park was a football stadium in the West Reading district of Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium was the home of Reading Football Club from 1896 to 1998, in 1998 they moved to the new Madejski Stadium. In 1889, Reading were unable to continue playing at Coley Park as W B Monck no longer allowed due to rowdyism the rougher elements. With clu

1.
Elm Park in 1981

2.
Supporters at a Reading match at Elm Park in 1913

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The last ever competitive match played at Elm Park between Reading and Norwich City in May 1998

Swansea City A.F.C.
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Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales, that plays in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Swansea City represent England when playing in European competitions, although they have represented Wales in the past, the club was founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the

1.
The Swansea Town team during its first season, 1912–13

2.
Swansea City

3.
Ivor Allchurch scored 164 goals in 445 appearances for the Swans between 1947–1958 and 1965–1968

4.
Swansea fans and players celebrate the last league goal to be scored at the Vetch Field

City Ground
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The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and they are located on opposite sides of the River Trent. Nottingham Forest moved to their new ground on 3 September 1898 –33 years after their formation, to raise the £3

2.
The City Ground in 1898

3.
Main Stand Front View

4.
Main Stand rear View

Barnsley F.C.
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Barnsley Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy under the name Barnsley St. Peters, the club colours are red and whi

1.
Barnsley in the 1912 FA Cup Final

2.
Barnsley Football Club

3.
Barnsley in action against Leicester City in the 1997–98 season. The resulting 1–0 defeat condemned the Tykes to relegation

Southampton F.C.
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Their home ground since 2001 has been St Marys Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. Southampton has a rivalry with Portsmouth due to its close proximity. Matches between the two sides are known as the South Coast derby, the club has won the FA Cup once, in 1976, and their highest-ever league finish was second in the First Division in

1.
Southampton players form a huddle before kicking off against Derby in 2007

2.
Southampton F.C.

3.
Koeman (front left) as manager

4.
View from the Chapel Stand

Port Vale F.C.
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Port Vale Football Club is a professional association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. The team compete in League One, the tier of the English football league system. Port Vale is one of the few English league clubs not to be named after a location, their name being a reference to the valley of ports on the Trent. They were

1.
Vale Park, Port Vale's home ground since 1950.

2.
Port Vale

3.
Average home attendances from 1892–93 to 2009–10.

4.
Williams at a concert in Vienna

Old Recreation Ground
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The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium, located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and home to Port Vale for almost 40 years. The Rec had been Vales home between 1913 and 1950 and was the ground the club used. The stadium was in bad condition, especially following years of neglect during World War II. Port Vale were forced to sell the land to the

1.
Average attendances, 1913– 1950.

Leyton Orient F.C.
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Leyton Orient Football Club /ˌleɪtən ˈɔəriənt/ is a professional football club in Leyton, London, England. They play in League Two, the tier of the English football league system. The clubs home colours are all red, Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63. In 1978, they reached the semi-finals of the FA

1.
Brisbane Road

2.
Arms of L.O.F.C.: A football inscribed "1881" with supporters 2 wyverns gules

3.
West Stand viewed from South Stand

Notts County F.C.
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Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. With records of games as early as 28 November 1862, Notts County is recognised as the oldest association football team in the world now playing at a professional level. Between 1888–89 and 2013–14 they played a total of

1.
Notts County

Meadow Lane
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Not to be confused with The Meadow, home of Southern Football League Premier Division football team Chesham United The Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the ground of Notts County, who have played there since 1910. The stadium is home to Notts County Ladies F. C. since 2014. It currently has a capacity of 19,84

1.
Meadow Lane

2.
The Jimmy Sirrel Stand

3.
Aerial image showing the proximity of Meadow Lane (top) to the City Ground

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club /ˌwʊlvərˈhæmptən/ is a professional association football club based in the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. The club was known as St. Lukes FC and was founded in 1877. They compete in the Championship, the second highest tier of English football, the following season saw two further managers dismissed as t

1.
Wolves' 1893 FA Cup-winning team

2.
Wolverhampton Wanderers

3.
Celebrating the Championship title in 2009.

4.
Molineux

Hull City F.C.
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Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club participates in the Premier League, the top tier of English football – and their greatest achievement in cup competitions came in 2014, when the team reached the final of the FA Cup. In 2007–08 they achieved pro

1.
Hull City squad of 1936

2.
Hull City A.F.C.

3.
Boothferry Park in March 2008

4.
Phil Brown and players celebrate on promotion to the Premier League in 2008

Preston North End F.C.
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Preston North End Football Club is a professional association football club located in the Deepdale area of Preston, Lancashire. They play in the Championship, the tier of the English football league system. Prestons unbeaten League and Cup season earned them the nickname The Invincibles, Prestons most recent major trophy success was their FA Cup v

1.
Preston North End in 1888–89, the first Football League champions, subsequently doing ' The Double '

2.
Preston North End

3.
Under David Moyes, Preston were soon promoted to Division One from Two in the millennium.

4.
Deepdale

Deepdale
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The land on which the stadium stands was originally Deepdale Farm. It was leased on 21 January 1875 by the towns North End sports club and originally used for cricket and it hosted its first association football match on 5 October 1878. As football grew in popularity, it necessary to have raised areas. In the 1890s Preston built the West Paddock, w

1.
Deepdale Stadium

2.
The National Football Museum logo. Includes a tan-coloured "T-Ball" football.

3.
The Splash, statue of Sir Tom Finney

Bradford City F.C.
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Bradford City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team play in League One, the tier of English football. The club was founded in 1903 and immediately elected into the Football League Second Division, promotion to the top tier followed in 1908 and the club won the FA C

1.
The Bradford City team which won the 1911 FA Cup

2.
Bradford City A.F.C.

3.
Bradford City against Fulham at Valley Parade during the early 1990s

4.
Bradford City's 1911 FA Cup Final winning goalscorer Jimmy Speirs

Valley Parade
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Valley Parade, also known as the Northern Commercials Stadium through sponsorship rights, is an all-seater football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1886, and was the home of Manningham Rugby Football Club until 1903 and it has been Bradford Citys home since, although it is now owned by former chairman Gordon Gibbs pens

1.
Valley Parade

2.
The concrete Midland Road stand for Bradford City Football Club nearing completion in 1908.

3.
Valley Parade during the early 1990s, after it had been redeveloped following the fire, but before further work at the end of the decade

4.
The Kop, formerly known as the Carlsberg stand

Ayresome Park
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Middlesbrough had previously played at Linthorpe Road West cricket ground, but election to the Football League meant that an improved stadium was required. Ayresome Park was built at Paradise Field, adjacent to the old Paradise Ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis, the highest attendance at the ground was set on 27 December 1949, when Middlesbrough p

1.
Middlesbrough playing at Ayresome Park in 1991

2.
Ayresome Park main entrance

Fratton Park
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Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F. C. since its construction in 1898, the stadium has four all seated stands with a capacity for 21,100 supporters. The pitch, measuring 115 x 73 yards, is aligned from east to west, the largest and most modern stand is ca

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The iconic mock Tudor facade

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The ground as viewed from the Milton End in September 2006

Craven Cottage
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Craven Cottage is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It has been the ground of Fulham F. C. since 1896. The grounds current capacity is 25,700, all-seated, though the record attendance is 49,335, located next to Bishops Park on the banks of the River Thames, Craven Cottage was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back

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Craven Cottage

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Aerial view of Craven Cottage on the banks of the River Thames as it looks today

Bloomfield Road
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Bloomfield Road is a 17, 338-capacity all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire, in an area known as South Shore. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F. C. since 1901, the stadium is named after the road on which the main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000, Ju

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The current stadium, looking north, as visitors Fulham kicked off the first-ever Premier League game at Bloomfield Road

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Bloomfield Road in 1905. The view from the south-east corner of the ground.

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Bloomfield Road in the first half of the 20th century, also from the south-east corner.

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A third view from the south-east corner of the ground in the 1990s. The Spion Kop, with Blackpool Tower in the distance.

Vetch Field
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The Vetch Field was a multi-purpose stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used mostly for football matches and was the ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 at the time of its closure, as well as being home to the Swans, the Vetch also hosted games for the W

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The Vetch Field in 2006

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The West Terrace

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The Vetch prior to the kick-off of the last ever league match to be played at the ground, the penultimate fixture of the 2004/05 season. Swansea beat Shrewsbury Town 1-0 courtesy of an early Adrian Forbes strike.

Oakwell
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Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. The West Stand is the original part of Oakwell Stadium left standing, however. The stand is made up of two tiers, with only the upper tier covered, but at the expe

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Oakwell

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The West Stand

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The East Stand

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The North Stand

Molineux Stadium
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Molineux Stadium is a Championship football stadium situated in Wolverhampton, England. The stadium has however hosted England internationals and, more recently, England under-21 internationals, although currently a 31,000 seater stadium, the record attendance at Molineux stands at 61,315. Initial plans were announced in May 2010 to rebuild two sid

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Molineux

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The Billy Wright statue outside Molineux

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The partially built Stan Cullis stand in October 2011

Darlington F.C.
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Darlington Football Club was an English football club based in Darlington, County Durham. The club was founded in 1883, and played its games at Feethams, the arena is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 25,000, although this was restricted to 10,000. The cost of the stadium was a factor in driving the club into administration. The club origina

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The Darlington team of the 1910–11 season, who reached the last 16 of the FA Cup

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Darlington F.C.

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Darlington playing Bury at the Darlington Arena in 2008

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Feethams, derelict in 2005

Feethams
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Feethams was a football and cricket ground in Darlington, England. It was the home of Darlington F. C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into a new stadium on the outskirts of Darlington, the football ground was demolished in 2006, while the cricket ground still remains in use. Feethams was the home of the Darlington town cricket club, Dar

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Feethams in 2005

Talbot Road
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This is a List of Ontario Tourist Routes throughout the province, which are designated to highlight places of cultural, environmental, or social importance. Although many municipalities, cities, and counties still sign these tourist routes, others may have chosen to discontinue them with the highways they followed, the African-Canadian Heritage Tou

The Dell (Southampton)
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The Dell in Milton Road, Southampton, Hampshire, England was the home ground of Southampton F. C. between 1898 and 2001. Since 1896, Southampton had been tenants of Hampshire County Cricket Club at the County Ground, the merger proposals had fallen through, but at the Extraordinary general meeting in June 1897, the members were informed that the co

Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It is the ground of Chelsea F. C. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is referred to as simply The Bridge. The capacity is 41,663, making it the eighth largest ground in the Premier League, the club has plans to expand the capacity to 60,

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Stamford Bridge

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Bird's Eye Picture of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in 1909

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The brand New Stamford Bridge stadium in August 1905

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Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge in September 1905

Birmingham City F.C.
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Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, the team compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. As Small Heath, they played in the Foot

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Small Heath F.C., champions of the inaugural Football League Second Division in 1892–93

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The club's shirts featured a distinctive bold "V" around the time of the First World War.